Covington dominates Woodley en route to 5th-round TKO in UFC main event
In a long-awaited clash of bitter rivals, Colby Covington came out victorious over Tyron Woodley.
Covington defeated Woodley via TKO at 1:19 of the fifth round in the welterweight main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Woodley shouted in pain and verbally submitted while Covington was on top of him. Woodley appeared to suffer a rib injury, which led to the referee stoppage.
After the fight, Covington called out 170-pound champion Kamaru Usman and former training partner Jorge Masvidal.
"Marty Fakenewsman (Usman), Street Judas (Masvidal), we got unfinished business," Covington said in his postfight interview. "There's nowhere to run, and there's nowhere to hide. I'm coming for you. You're next."
Covington dominated Woodley, a former welterweight champion, from start to finish. He secured his first takedown in the opening 40 seconds and continued to dominate Woodley in the clinch and on the mat throughout the contest.
"Chaos," a former interim titleholder, used his pressure and kickboxing to get inside Woodley's range and secure the clinch position to earn the win.
Woodley pressed forward a few times, but like in his other recent losses, the former champ struggled to put together much offense. Woodley was unable to blitz like he used to and that ultimately meant he found himself against the fence for most of the clash.
Covington took Woodley down in the fourth round and pummeled him with ground-and-pound. Woodley suffered a cut on his face and was bloodied up after getting destroyed in that frame.
In the final round, Covington continued to do more of the same. He scored another takedown, and the fight was halted after Woodley apparently suffered an injury.
Covington, 32, returned to the win column Saturday following a TKO loss to Usman in a title fight last December. He's 8-1 in his past nine contests.
Woodley has now lost three straight bouts. The 38-year-old held the UFC belt from 2016-19 and successfully defended it four times before losing to Usman in March of last year.