Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson has been confirmed for the UFC’s long awaited return to New York, Woodley announced Friday.
‘The Chosen One’ confirmed the news on Fox Sports 1 during the UFC Fight Night weigh in show.
The bout will mark Woodley’s first title defense after defeating Robbie Lawler at UFC 201 and follows months of speculation over who his opponent would be upon initially axing Thompson’s hopes of getting a shot in a post-fight interview following his title win; instead called for big money fights in Georges St. Pierre or Nick Diaz.
‘T-Wood’ went so far as to post a conversation via text message with St. Pierre on his Twitter, which seemed to show an interested from both sides in seeing the fight come to fruition.
So it can forever be broken! pic.twitter.com/J6cZM1LbJJ
— Tyron T-Wood Woodley (@TWooodley) August 12, 2016
However, with St. Pierre still undergoing both contract negotiations and a mandatory four months of participation in the USADA testing pool, which won’t make him eligible to fight until December and Diaz’s seeming lack of interest in the fight, it now appears ‘Wonderboy’s campaign will pay off.
Currently riding a seven fight win streak, Thompson(13-1 MMA), a former undefeated kickboxer at 57-0, is as deserving a contender as there comes, having recently defeated one time welterweight champion Johnny Hendricks and former contender Rory MacDonald.
UFC 205, which takes place Nov. 12 at Madison Square Garden, will mark the world’s leading mixed martial arts promotion’s first event in New York since 1995 following the recent revocation of a ban on the sport of MMA in the state.
Main Image
