After three title fights over the course of eight months, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is planning to slow things down a bit. And like how it has been a trend in the UFC in recent years, a lull in the division’s title picture is expected to come about.
Woodley specifically plans to heal up a shoulder injury that happened during his fight against Demian Maia at UFC 214. And in doing so, he intends to take as much time as he needs, especially since he feels there is no real challenger for his title.
“Long story short, it’s gong to be a minute before I’m out in the octagon, which almost works to the division’s credit because the deck needs to be shuffled a little bit more,” Woodley told Sirius XM’s “MMA Tonight” (transcript via MMA Junkie). “There’s no real and true clear-cut No. 1 contender right now, and once these fights take place and these guys get out there, compete, do a training camp and fight, the world champion will just be getting back in the mix. So it’ll be perfect timing.”
Woodley’s injury had forced the California State Athletic Commission to extend his initial medical suspension from seven days, to 180 days. Apparently, it is an injury that he had been dealing with since 2008, which was further aggravated at UFC 214.
This time, he plans to avoid surgery as much as possible, and instead go for stem-cell injections.
“I didn’t completely tear it, but I tore it enough where I should consider surgery,” Woodley said. “I’m actually investigating stem-cell (platelet rich plasma) injections – things of that nature first – and rehab because obviously if I can avoid going under the knife, I obviously want to try to do that. So that’s my option right now.”
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