3 reasons why the UFC need to make Woodley vs Covington happen in 2019

With 2018 almost over and 2019 on the horizon, MMA fans have already begun to look at the big fights that are likely due to take place early next year. One such fight is a grudge match that’s been building for some time – Tyron Woodley vs. Colby Covington, with Woodley’s UFC Welterweight title on the line.

The two probably should’ve fought in 2018 at some point as Covington, of course, won the Interim Welterweight title back in June, but due to some timing issues surrounding injuries to both men, Woodley instead ended up defending against Darren Till in September, and Covington was stripped.

With both men hoping to be healthy in early 2019 though, we should see this fight pretty soon. And hey, it should be pretty good, too. Here are 3 reasons why Woodley vs. Covington must happen in early 2019.

#1: It could be the new version of the Silva vs. Sonnen rivalry

Anderson Silva's rivalry with Chael Sonnen made him a star - could the same thing happen to Woodley against Covington?

Anderson Silva might be considered one of the UFC’s all-time biggest stars these days, but if you cast your mind back to early 2010, that certainly wasn’t the case. At that stage, Silva was already well on his way to becoming a legend inside the Octagon, but for some reason, he found it hard to make the fans care for his fights. That wasn’t helped by a pair of dull title defences against Thales Leites and Demian Maia either.

Enter Chael Sonnen. The future ‘American Gangster’ won a shot at Silva’s Middleweight crown by beating Nate Marquardt in February 2010 and then began to talk more trash than probably any other fighter in UFC history, taking shots at Silva’s fighting style, his culture, his training partners, and even his entire country of Brazil. He also made plenty of claims that he simply couldn’t back up and altogether, this turned him into the biggest villain in the sport.

Suddenly, everyone cared about Silva, largely because they wanted to see him kick Sonnen’s a**. And after an epic fight that saw Silva snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat with a 5th round triangle choke, the Brazilian was elevated from a champion who the fans didn’t really like to one of the UFC’s most popular stars – and from there he never looked back, really.

Sound familiar? In this case, we’ve got a highly successful champion in Woodley who, for whatever reason – perhaps linked to a couple of dull title defences – the fans simply don’t care too much for. And of course, in Covington, we’ve got a trash-talking villain who loves Donald Trump and is pretty much hated by the fans. It’s damn near identical to the Silva and Sonnen situation almost a decade earlier.

If Covington talks as much trash as he usually does leading into this fight – and there’s nothing to suggest he wouldn’t – then the fans won’t be able to help getting hooked. And most likely, for the first time in a while, they’ll be fully behind Woodley, too. Essentially, this fight could make both men into superstars just as Silva vs. Sonnen did. And that’s a good thing.

#2: The styles of both men make for an interesting fight

Covington's offense relies heavily on his takedown - but could he outwrestle Woodley?

Perhaps no other style of fighting inside the Octagon garners as much criticism as a wrestling-heavy attack. Fighters capable of taking an opponent down and holding them there simply have to be insanely active from the top in order to avoid the notorious ‘lay and pray’ label, and quite often, even great wrestlers find themselves being heavily booed by the fans.

Colby Covington has been one such fighter throughout his UFC tenure. ‘Chaos’ has put together a tremendous record of 9-1 in the UFC, but it’s notable that his last finish came over Max Griffin way back in August 2016. Since he stepped up to the highest level, beating Dong Hyun Kim, Demian Maia and Rafael Dos Anjos, his takedown has very much been at the forefront of his offensive tactics.

But will that really work against Woodley, one of the strongest wrestlers in MMA today? Sure, Covington was a Division I All-American wrestler, but then so was Woodley. More to the point, ‘The Chosen One’ has a takedown defense rate of 95%, and he’s only been on his back in one UFC fight – against Rory MacDonald, who cleverly used his striking to set up his takedowns.

So if Covington can’t get Woodley down, then what happens from there? We likely see a striking match and while Woodley has absolutely deadly power in his hands, he’s less active and aggressive than Covington, who has shown the ability to push a ridiculous pace and outstrike even Dos Anjos, a far better kickboxer.

Of course, that’s not even exploring the possibility that Woodley could ground Covington – and if that happens, then who knows where the fight goes. There are literally so many questions that this fight throws up – which is why it’s such a good one to make.

#3: It shows the value of UFC titles

The UFC's decision to have Darren Till fight Woodley was somewhat questionable

The overall value of the UFC’s titles has never been brought into question as much as it has recently and that’s largely the fault of the promotion itself. They’ve simply introduced too many interim titles, given too many unwarranted title shots out and put together too many needless ‘superfights’ recently, and that’s caused the fans a lot of unrest – and worse still, it’s caused some not to care anymore.

Welterweight however has largely been a pretty consistent area even since the WME buyout in 2016. Woodley captured the title by dethroning longtime champ Robbie Lawler in July 2016, and then went to a draw with challenger Stephen Thompson a few months later. An instant rematch was made that Woodley won, and then he defended successfully against the new top contender, Demian Maia.

That’s where things got a little bit off-track, though. Woodley was then sidelined due to needing shoulder surgery, and when it emerged that he’d be out for over a year, the UFC decided to introduce an Interim title, matching Covington against Rafael Dos Anjos. Given Woodley’s layoff, this could probably be excused.

What was more questionable however was after Covington won and subsequently needed minor surgery, rather than wait for him to return to set up the title unification match, the UFC simply awarded a title shot to Darren Till instead. Sure, UFC 228 needed a main event and Woodley was available, but even so – it was pretty bad to totally ignore the interim title.

With Woodley beating Till and Covington only just being ready to return though, the UFC now has a chance to right that mistake. By matching Woodley and Covington in the next Welterweight title fight, the integrity of the division and the worth of the interim title Covington has since been stripped of – remains mostly intact. It’s not like Covington has fought since, which would pretty much excuse the Till title shot.

If any other fighter is awarded a shot at Woodley – even streaking fighters like Kamaru Usman and Santiago Ponzinibbio – while Covington is healthy, then it shows there’s something rotten with the UFC. If they finally give us Woodley vs. Covington, then the 170lbs division remains a strong constant amongst so much chaos – no pun intended – elsewhere in the promotion.