Earlier this week UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley hinted that he could fight as soon as UFC 230 on November 3rd in New York City against Colby Covington, but that will no longer be the case.
According to ESPN, Woodley requires surgery on his thumb, the result of an injury sustained during his UFC 228 victory over Darren Till, and that will keep him out for 8-12 weeks, meaning that he could potentially be out until 2019 if he doesn’t bounce back from it quickly.
If it’s earlier then perhaps the UFC 232 event on December 29th in Las Vegas could still be an option given that there’s only one title fight between featherweight champion Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino and bantamweight titleholder Amanda Nunes currently lined up for that show.
For the time being though, the news of the champion’s impending layoff is sure to disappoint Covington, who had been loudly calling for the next shot at the title after being replaced by Till for Woodley’s previous fight due to a failed attempt on his part to have the match-up postponed until later in the year.
Nevertheless, Dana White has recently claimed that Covington will now get the next title shot after racking up a six-fight winning streak in total over the past couple of years that has included wins over the likes of Dong Hyun Kim, Demian Maia and Rafael dos Anjos.
