According to champion Tyron Woodley, top UFC welterweight Rafael dos Anjos got “played.”
With Woodley still sidelined due to a December shoulder surgery, dos Anjos accepted an interim title shot against Colby Covington at UFC 225 in June. Woodley doesn’t think it makes any sense for that fight to be for an interim belt, nor does he think the Brazilian should have agreed to the Covington matchup in the first place.
One month after dos Anjos dominated former welterweight champ Robbie Lawler at UFC on FOX 26 in December, UFC president Dana White said that the ex-lightweight titleholder would get the next crack at Woodley’s title once “The Chosen One” was fully recovered and ready to return to the cage.
White said at a UFC press conference earlier this month in Brooklyn that the promotion opted to book dos Anjos vs. Covington for the interim title because Woodley wouldn’t be available until August — which, in White’s eyes, was too far away not to book an interim title fight in the meantime.
“We’re not gonna be in a position where we jam up a division, so we’re gonna do the fight,” White said.
If you ask Woodley, the next title shot was still dos Anjos’ — all he had to do was wait, and perhaps wait less time than initially expected.
“Bruh. Sad to see fighters being played,” Woodley tweeted on Sunday. “I accepted to fight [dos Anjos] July made# be (sic) June if I was given more time to let them know if im good. He fighting Qweefington for no reason.”
Dos Anjos had a simple response to Woodley’s above tweet:
Woodley last defended the 170-pound title in a one-sided decision of Demian Maia at UFC 214 last July. In that fight, he suffered a shoulder tear that required surgery.
Woodley has defended the title three times since winning it against Lawler in July 2016.