Perhaps texting UFC President Dana White 15 times a day looking for a fight isn’t such a bad thing after all for UFC fighters.
UFC welterweight Tyron Woodley will get his wish at UFC 171. Woodley (12-2, 2-1 UFC) will meet Carlos Condit (29-7, 6-3 UFC) on the March 15 card from the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and will likely be part of the night’s main card on pay-per-view. UFC officials announced the booking on Tuesday.
Condit had been rumored to being booked in a fight with Nick Diaz at the event, but White said that Diaz turned down the fight during the post-fight press conference following Saturday’s UFC On FOX 9 event. Diaz was in attendance at the event. White had initially turned down Woodley’s requests to fight Condit, but with Condit being slotted for a fight on the UFC 171 card, and with Diaz no longer an option, Woodley gets the fight he wanted.
Woodley is looking to make a statement for a title shot at the now-vacant UFC Welterweight Championship. Woodley debuted with a big way after moving from the Strikeforce promotion as he scored a quick first-round knockout of Jay Hieron at UFC 156 in February. Woodley then took a step back following a decision loss in a lackluster bout with Jake Shields at UFC 161 in June, but he got back in the win column in huge fashion with a first-round knockout win over Josh Koscheck at UFC 167 in November.
Condit ended a two-fight losing streak in his last bout as he scored a knockout win over Martin Kampmann at UFC Fight Night 27 in August. Condit suffered back-to-back decision losses to Johny Hendricks and Georges St. Pierre. The loss to St. Pierre came in a unification bout at UFC 154 in November 2012 as Condit had held the Interim UFC Welterweight Championship. Condit was scheduled to meet Matt Brown at Saturday’s event in Sacramento, but Brown was forced out of the bout due to injury.
UFC 171 will be headlined by Johny Hendricks taking on Robbie Lawler for the vacant UFC Welterweight Championship.
