Tyron Woodley issues $10,000 takedown challenge to Colby Covington

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley’s next fight is almost certain to pit him against Colby Covington, the UFC’s new interim welterweight champion.

If Woodley and Covington’s fight goes ahead as planned, Woodley is hoping to use it as a chance to punish Covington for the ceaseless trash talk he’s unleashed over the last few months. Rather than taking Covington down, he’s hoping to settle things on the feet. He does not, however, expect Covington to play ball. Instead, he expects the interim champion to lean on his wrestling — the same wrestling he used to defeat Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225 last weekend.

In an effort to deter Covington from relentlessly pursuing the takedown, Woodley has suggested something of a wager: for every takedown Covington attempts, he pays Woodley $10,000.

“If he wants to play those types of games and that’s what he wants to do, I’m gonna challenge him,” Woodley said on ”The Morning Wood Show with Deez Nuts” podcast (transcribed by Tristen Critchfield for Sherdog). “For every time he tries to touch my leg, for every time he tries to take me down, you owe me $10,000. Let’s make a bet. I ain’t gonna try to take you down one time for the whole fight.

If this wager does successfully deter Covington from pursuing the takedown, Woodley expects to win extremely quickly. Perhaps with even greater brevity than his 2016 title-winning knockout of Robbie Lawler, which only took 2:12.

“You’re going to make this division great again? People want to see hands thrown. They don’t want to see wrestling and grappling,” Woodley continued. “We could take it to the mat and put on a singlet if that’s what you want to do. I challenge you $10,000 every time you touch my leg or grab me and try to take me down, you owe me $10,000. We’ll see this fight end lickety-split. I might beat the knockout of Robbie.”

Who do you think will come out on top when the cage door finally closes on Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/13/2018.