Report | Tyron Woodley turns down Gilbert Burns fight

Gilbert Burns previously claimed he accepted a fight with Tyron Woodley, but now says Woodley has turned down the bout.

https://twitter.com/GilbertDurinho/status/1239546539414077440

Burns is fresh off a TKO win over Demian Maia, which co-headlined the UFC Brasilia card this past Saturday. Shortly after this win, he threw his name in the hat as a potential replacement opponent for Tyron Woodley.

Woodley, the former UFC welterweight champ, was originally expected to take on England’s Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC London this coming Sunday. Unfortunately, this fight—and the entire UFC London card—effectively disintegrated due to complications stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak.

Despite this shakeup, Woodley is still expected to fight this Saturday. The UFC is hastily assembling a replacement fight card on US soil, and the intention is to have the former champion headline. Burns was hoping to be Woodley’s opponent on this short-notice card.

For a brief period, it sounded like Burns might actually be the frontrunner in the race to fight Woodley. He even claimed he’d accepted an offer to fight the former champ.

However, BJPenn.com’s Cole Shelton has since confirmed that Woodley has turned down the fight with Burns. Shelton added that Woodley is allegedly targeting a fight with Rafael dos Anjos — a long-time friend of Burns.

Sources tell me Tyron Woodley did turn down Gilbert Burns as they are pushing for the RDA fight this weekend at a location TBD. #UFC

— Cole Shelton (@ColeShelton91) March 16, 2020

“Sources tell me Tyron Woodley did turn down Gilbert Burns as they are pushing for the RDA fight this weekend at a location TBD.” – Cole Shelton.

While Woodley is allegedly chasing a fight with dos Anjos, he’s also stated that his No. 1 choice for his short-notice fight this weekend is his long-time rival Colby Covington.

“Colby Covington is my number one choice,” Woodley stated on Instagram live “My No. 1 choice. If I can fight him, Lord, there is a heaven above.”

Would you have liked to see Gilbert Burns fight Tyron Woodley on short notice?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/16/2020.