Could we see Tyron Woodley make a jump to the Lightweight division (or vice versa) to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov?
While that’s a decision left up to Dana White and Khabib as well, the former UFC welterweight champion would love to step into the octagon against the undefeated champ to challenge himself against one of the top fighters in the world:
“He’s a beast,” Woodley said during a UFC Fight Night Vancouver Fan Q&A (via Alexander K. Lee of
MMA Fighting).
“I just think that right now in my life and my career, I need the impossible. I need the stuff that nobody can do, I need the thing that’s gonna motivate me beyond measure and I think that he provides that. Obviously, I could never make 155. I’m already kind of alluding to handling business at welterweight and going up to middleweight. It would have to be something at a catchweight, it would have to be something that he would be interested in. He’s on top of the world right now, I might not even be an option for him. It’s more out of respect of what he can do. I know Dustin, he spars middleweights, light heavyweights, and for him to go out there and put on a performance like that against Dustin, I gotta see what it feels like.”
Nurmagomedov hasn’t responded to the callout. At last word, Khabib vs. Tony Ferguson could be the next fight for the Lightweight champion, though the match-up hasn’t been made official.