Colby Covington might have accused Tyron Woodley of ‘faking’ injuries, but the UFC welterweight champion just underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder by renowned physician Dr. James Andrews.
Woodley, who injured his shoulder in his title defense against Demian Maia at UFC 214, told TMZ the surgery was a success and, if all things go according to plan, will return to the Octagon to defend his title in the first quarter of 2018.
“Just with the stem cell and PRP (platelet rich plasma), the new technology and science, I’m gonna be fighting in the first quarter of next year,” Woodley said, per MMA Weekly’s Damon Martin.
Woodley has been angling for a superfight ever since he captured the welterweight title at UFC 201 and admits that he isn’t too intrigued by a fight with top contender Rafael dos Anjos, who shut out former champ Robbie Lawler this past weekend at UFC on FOX 26.
“I wasn’t too impressed with him, I’m going to be honest and I said it to his face,” Woodley said of dos Anjos. “I wasn’t too impressed with the performance. Just because people are punching and swinging, if you’re punching and swinging and you’re missing or you’re hitting gloves and elbows, that ain’t precision to me. When you’re landing good powerful shots and making it count, and I wasn’t really thrilled with the IQ of both guys.
“Would I be open to fighting him? Yeah, but is he the top fighter on my list? No.”
Woodley wanted to move up to middleweight to a pursue champion vs. champion superfight against Georges St-Pierre, but ‘Rush’ vacated the title after being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.
Woodley, 35, is currently ranked in the top-ten pound-for-pound UFC rankings.
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