Colby Covington Takes on Tyron Woodley
This time It’s personal, the words we all too often hear bandied about in combat sports. As fans, we are repeatedly drawn in by the false rage and feigned animosity. That it’s difficult to tell whether what we are seeing is for real. Or just more of the same wolf tickets being thrust in our faces by the fighters and promoters eager to sell the fight.
However, I think in the case of Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington, it’s fair to say there’s definitely a history deserving of the rivalry. The respective former champion and interim champion of the UFC welterweight division. When Woodley was at the top, hardly a day went by where Colby didn’t have something negative to say about his title reign.
With his constant poking and jabbing of the champion. It was Colby’s way of putting himself on the map and steal some limelight from the guy at the top. And do you know what, it worked. As Covington went from a fighter who was almost cut, to a guy who was now one of the most visible, yet divisive figures in the sport.
And whether real or not, with a perceived undercurrent of racial tension being added to the volatile political climate of our time. The tension was building for these two to go head to head.
Tyron Woodley just called out Colby Covington on Instagram. pic.twitter.com/pJkIyqZ5qc
— Crack Hardly (@CrackHardly) March 15, 2020
Fallin In, Fallin Out Of Love With MMA
When Tyron sat at the top of the pile and was being spoken openly about as potentially one of the greats at 170 lbs. All the while in the background, we had the constant rumblings for someone who begged to differ, Colby “Chaos” Covington. But as his career outside the cage as an entertainer began to take up more and more of his time. Woodley seemed to fall in love with one and outta love with the other.
Colby has never given Tyron the respect he feels he deserves. And it’s something which has always grated on the Flint Michigan native.
Woodley never had it easy, not as a kid, not as a contender and then with Covington, not as the champion. As throughout his life, he very clearly feels his quest for greatness has been plagued by nothing but detractors who have tried incessantly to drag him back down. And for Tyron, it seemed to eat away at the edges of his very soul.
Adding insult to injury, this time it was coming from a guy who for Woodley embodied all that is wrong in the country which he calls home. Covington the outspoken blue-collar Donald Trump-supporting white guy. Telling the African American welterweight champion of the world, he quite literally sucks!
With zero respect given, at least on the surface. Covington represents all that Woodley has constantly harped on about. Both before and during his time being ranked as the best 170 lb mixed martial artists on the planet. No matter what he did, it was never good enough. With very public shows of disdain and disrespect for the champion. And given the right time and the right set of circumstances, T Wood wanted to make him pay.
Covington vs Woodley UFC Vegas 11
And now the number five ranked Woodley will look to claw back his top position from the number two ranked Covington. The guy who has done so much to disregard his time at the top of the world. Woodley is all but on the cusp of his career end. At 38 years young, how many more fights does the former champ still have? Covington is still very much in his prime and will keep plugging away for several more years to come.
But was it the taking time out to work on his rap and movie career. On top of all the other things which led to his fall from grace? Snubbing out any chance of those big money fights he so frustratingly chased after without success. Woodley has his axe to grind, but the question now is, how sharp is that axe?
Does he have enough left in the tank to push through and reassert himself as a top contender? With so much wrapped up in this showdown emotionally, even spiritually. This could be a pivoltal moment in both fighters careers.
And with Covington getting a very public endorsement on the eve of the fight from the President of the United States. It’s two men with two very different ideologies clashing in a long-overdue showdown. With some of the most powerful people in the world looking on. There’s much more to this main event than just a move up the ladder.