EXCLUSIVE | Colby Covington explains why Tyron Woodley needs him

After dominating Demian Maia to a unanimous decision, and setting the MMA community on fire with a heated post-fight speech, Colby Covington believes he’s ready for a title fight with welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. And while Woodley has been dismissive of this possibility, Covington believes the champ needs him far more than he knows.

“It only makes sense,” Covington said of his possible title shot on the latest episode of BJ Penn Radio. “Me and Tyron Woodley for the world championship, first quarter next year in St. Louis, Missouri. Tyron Woodley needs me. Tyron Woodley is not a likeable guy, he fights like shit, he’s boring, no one wants to see him fight unless he’s fighting a guy like me who a lot of people hate. All of Brazil hates me. You know, so he needs me. He needs a bad guy where people are going to team up on his side and actually believe in him and want to root for him because no one wants to root for Tyron Woodley, that guy’s not a draw, he’s a joke. He needs Colby “Chaos” Covington versus Tyron Woodley in St. Louis, first quarter of next year.”

Covington then likened himself to Chael Sonnen, one of the original bad guys in MMA.

“Chael Sonnen was the original bad guy you know,” he said. ” That’s nothing new to this sport you know. There’s going to be bad guys and villains and there’s going to be good guys. Yeah I do feel like I would be that guy for Tyron Woodley. He needs a Chael Sonnen. He needs a guy who’s going to push him over and I’m the guy that can do that if he can get through me, which there’s about a zero percent chance. He has a better shot to hit the Powerball than beat me in a fight, but if he were to beat me that’s what would make him a true champion. It would put him over because no one likes him, he’s boring. No one wants to see him fight, but you know, against someone like Colby “Chaos” Covington, they might want to see him beat me because not a lot of people like me because they know I am the new king of the UFC. I do think Tyron Woodley needs me more than I need him.

Do you want to see Colby Covington take on Tyron Woodley?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/11/2017.