Colby Covington Won’t Underestimate Tyron Woodley: ‘This Is A Heated Rivalry’

UFC Vegas 11 headliner Colby Covington is refusing to underestimate former welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley, despite the fact he is considered a heavy favourite heading into the eagerly anticipated match-up.

Covington got serious while talking with Aaron Bronsteter of TSN. ‘Chaos’ revealed he is ignoring the odds ahead of his match-up with Woodley as they are not representative of what he knows will be a tough fight.

“Yeah, definitely I can’t look at the odds, that’s not going to be reflective of what the fight is going to be like and how close the fight could be,” Covington said. “If I look at the odds, it just looks like it’s going to be a cakewalk and I’m just going to walk through him. Realistically, that’s not what it’s going to be. This is a heated rivalry, this is a genuine beef, this isn’t a manufactured beef. We want to rip each other heads off.

“I can’t look at the odds and saying he (Woodley) is past his time. He isn’t past his time, he is 38 years old. Daniel Cormier is 41 years old and just fought for a world title. Why aren’t people saying Daniel Cormier is past his time? Yeah, he got beat his past two fights by decision, but no one has finished him. I feel like if I go finish Tyron Woodley on Saturday night, I cement myself to get another title shot. Or a fight with Street Judas Masvidal.” (Transcribed by BJPENN.com)

Covington returns to the Octagon for the first time since falling short in his welterweight title bid against Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 late last year. ‘Chaos’ went back-and-forth with the champ before ultimately being stopped in the fifth and final round of an epic fight.

Woodley is looking to recover from back-to-back defeats. ‘The Chosen One’ lost his title to Kamaru Usman in a dominant decision loss at UFC 235. He has since gone on to face Gilbert Burns but failed to impress once again, suffering another lopsided loss against the Brazilian who is now next in line for a title shot.

Do you agree with Colby Covington? Are the oddsmakers underestimating Tyron Woodley ahead of the UFC Vegas 11 main event?