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MMA

03rd Jan 2019

Somebody is lying about the next UFC welterweight title fight

Who knows what to believe?

Darragh Murphy

The welterweight waters are rather muddy over there in the UFC

Nobody knows who will be in the Octagon the next time the organisation’s 170 lbs title is on the line and the recent social media exchanges have provided no clarity whatsoever.

Champion Tyron Woodley has rejected claims from Kamaru Usman that he is next in line for a title shot, despite the fact that UFC President Dana White has appeared to back-up Usman’s story.

“That fight is happening, or Usman versus someone for the title,” White told MMAjunkie last week, doubling down on his promise to keep the welterweight division moving with or without Woodley.

White had previously told TSN Sports: “Tell me when Woodley does want to fight. This is always an issue with Woodley. We’re going to move on. That division is stacked. We’ve got a lot of good talent and whether Woodley fights or doesn’t, we’ll end up making a fight with some of the best guys in that division.”

Usman, who is on a 13-fight win streak dating back to 2013 and has yet to look anything but dominant since making his UFC debut in 2015, took to Twitter on Wednesday night to claim that he had received confirmation of a title shot in March.

Woodley, however, has rejected Usman’s version of events and instead insisted that he would first fight former interim welterweight champion Colby Covington before turning his attention to ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’.

Next followed a lengthy back-and-forth in which Usman stood firm on his stance that a bout agreement had been signed by both sides while Woodley mocked his rival for previous comments he’d made.