Tyron Woodley will defend his welterweight title against Darren Till on Sept. 8, UFC president Dana White confirmed to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
The road to the highly anticipated 170-pound bout, which will headline UFC 228 in Dallas, was detailed to ESPN by multiple sources.
The UFC had been looking to secure a main event for the card for days now. One possibility involved Woodley fighting interim welterweight champion Colby “Chaos” Covington. However, Covington was unable to fight on that date after having surgery on Tuesday to correct a nasal issue, according to sources. Covington said he’d be ready to return in November for UFC 230 at Madison Square Garden, but the UFC could not afford to wait that long to book the champion vs. champion fight because there were few options available to headline the pay-per-view in September. Covington will be stripped of the interim belt the moment the fight between Woodley and Till starts, White said.
In the meantime, the UFC has decided to pit Woodley and the rising English star Till. Till (17-0-1) is coming off a unanimous decision win over Stephen Thompson in May. Before that fight, the 25-year-old missed weight by 3 pounds.
Woodley (18-3-1) has successfully defended the welterweight title three times. This will be his first fight back since undergoing shoulder surgery in December.
The card’s co-main event will feature Nicco Montaño vs. Valentina Shevchenko for the women’s flyweight title.