UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley requires surgery on an injured thumb on his right hand, ESPN's Ariel Helwani revealed on Friday. Woodley (19-3-1) apparently suffered the injury in the first round of his successful UFC 228 title defense against No. 1 contender Darren Till. Following the procedure, Woodley will need anywhere from 8-to-12 weeks to recover.
While news of the injury is certainly damning for Woodley, who had just made his return to the Octagon following a lengthy recovery from shoulder surgery, it also deals a huge blow to UFC as it pertains to one of its marquee events of the year coming up. UFC 230 on Nov. 3 in Madison Square Garden still needs a main event, and many had expected Woodley to step in and defend his title against former interim champion Colby Covington. Obviously, the recovery timetable revealed for Woodley immediately puts a halt to any plans that may have been in place to make that fight the MSG headliner.
Now, with the news of this unfortunate injury on Friday, we likely won't see Woodley defend his welterweight crown until 2019.
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