Tyron Woodley is no longer a UFC fighter after his deal came to an end following his last loss, but it seems that he’s not completely cut ties with the promotion.
Woodley’s manager Malki Kawa confirmed that the fighter is now a free agent by stating that his “contract was up” with the UFC, after the promotion removed him from the 170lb rankings and classified him as a ‘former fighter’ on their website.
The tail-end of the former welterweight champion’s time in the UFC did not go well as he lost four fights in a row, starting with losing the title to Kamaru Usman, followed by a dominant decision loss against Gilbert Burns and being TKO’d by Colby Covington.
Criticized for being overly cautious, Woodley went completely the opposite direction in his most recent outing against Vicente Luque, getting into a wild brawl that saw him have some big moments, but ultimately get rocked on the feet and then submitted in the second round.
Despite his apparent departure as a fighter, Woodley is still reported to be serving as an analyst at the desk alongside Michael Chiesa and Karyn Bryant at UFC On ESPN 23 on Saturday night.
As for what comes next for the 39-year-old in a fighting capacity, there’s certainly likely to be some level of interest from other major promotions like Bellator and ONE FC, though he may also fancy his chances of becoming Jake Paul’s next opponent in the boxing ring after they exchanged words before Ben Askren’s loss earlier this month.
