Woodley Rejects Covington Wrestling Match In RAF

Tyron Woodley has shut down talk of a wrestling match against Colby Covington at Real Action Fighting.

The former UFC welterweight champion and his one-time training partner turned rival never fought during Woodley's title reign, eventually meeting years later after Woodley had dropped multiple fights. Now competing on the wrestling circuit, Woodley said Covington waited too long to test himself. "Colby never wanted to compete against me when I was in my prime," Woodley told MMA Fighting. "He wanted to wait until he saw me lose a couple of times and it's like 'let me jump in there now!' Same thing with the wrestling. He'd want to wait. So it would be more of a thing for him."

Woodley Eyes Bigger Names For RAF Return

Woodley is preparing to face Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of RAF's first Moscow show, coming off a win over Joaquin Buckley in his RAF debut. He considers the Chimaev bout a bigger test than anything Covington would offer and named Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs as his ideal matchup. "If you're going to go big, why not go big?" Woodley said. "Colby's not the biggest guy on the roster."

Woodley also mentioned UFC lightweight Arman Tsarukyan as an intriguing opponent, praising fighters who compete frequently across multiple disciplines. With a win over Chimaev, Woodley believes he will have cleared a higher bar than Covington represents at this stage of their careers.

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• BJPenn — Tyron Woodley explains why he’s not interested in wrestling Colby Covington in RAF: ‘More of a thing for him’