Tyron Woodley believes he is still the best welterweight in the UFC

Despite dropping his last two fights, former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley believes he is still the best welterweight in the UFC.

Woodley takes on long-time rival Colby Covington at UFC Vegas 11 this Saturday night. The former UFC welterweight champ is coming off of two straight losses to Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns where he was shut out on the scorecards. At age 38, some fans and media believe Woodley is on a steep decline in his career. But “The Chosen One” doesn’t want to hear anything about that.

Speaking to UFC.com before his big fight against Covington, Woodley said that he is excited to take on his rival and prove he’s still MMA’s top welterweight fighter.

“I just want to beat him because he’s my next opponent, and because I should. I’m the best welterweight in the world. It’s time for me—for myself—to start proving that and going out there and fighting free. Should I really be out here competing if my only motivation—had he not pissed you off, had he not been saying politically crazy stuff, had he not done these things—then I wouldn’t have wanted to beat him? No. I’m the best welterweight and I’ve got to go out there and show that,” Woodley said.

Although you have to admire his confidence, you would be hard-pressed to find many fans and media who would agree with Woodley’s statement that he’s still the top welterweight in the UFC. There’s no doubt Woodley was the top welterweight in the sport back in 2016 to 2018 when he knocked out Robbie Lawler to win the title and then defended the belt against Demian Maia, Darren Till, and Stephen Thompson, but after losing to Usman and Burns, Woodley has a lot to prove against Covington.

Where do you rank Tyron Woodley in the UFC welterweight division?