UFC: Gilbert Burns Breaks Down Colby Covington vs Tyron Woodley
Colby Covington and Tyron Woodley have been going back and forth consistently for several years, but now they will finally have a chance to squash their beef inside the Octagon. Earlier today, we reported that the two welterweight contenders had verbally agreed to fight on September 19th at the APEX Center in Las Vegas.
September 19th was originally reserved for UFC 253, where Israel Adesanya will defend his middleweight title against Paulo Costa in the main event. However, according to Ariel Helwani, UFC 253 has been pushed back one week to September 26th, and will now take place on Fight Island on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
Breakdown
In his last visit to the Octagon at UFC Vegas in May, Woodley lost convincingly to Gilbert Burns, who is set to challenge Kamaru Usman for the title later in the year.
With the winner of Woodley and Covington likely to be in title contention, Burns has a vested interest in the September 19th main event. Speaking to The Schmo (transcript by The Body Lock), ‘Durinho’ discussed the long awaited grudge match.
“I don’t know,” Burns said. “It’s an intriguing matchup because Colby is not going to be that dangerous with the hands. So with that being said, Woodley doesn’t need to fight with his hands up, watching for shots. His hands can be a little lower and he’ll be able to defend the takedown easily — he’s very strong.
“I don’t know, I hope Tyron Woodley gets his cardio good, he needs to be strong mentally going into that fight. I’m going to see that one. I hope Tyron Woodley wins that one.”
Hunting Covington
Burns admitted that his animosity towards Covington, whom he has called out before, is very personal.
“I’m always going to be against Colby Covington. He’s personal. I have a list of a lot of guys that I want to fight and he’s number one. He’s the number one guy that I want to beat up.”
Burns is confident that he will bring home the belt when he fights his Sanford MMA teammate Usman. And then he wants to put Covington in his place.
“That’s on my plan. I’ll become champion. I’m not being cocky, I’m just confident I’ll become a champion. Yeah, Colby is right there to get his ass whooped,” Burns asserted.
Who do you have winning between Colby Covington and Tyron Woodley, and Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman?
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