Carlos Condit vs. Tyron Woodley set for UFC 171 in Dallas
Nick Diaz’s loss is Tyron Woodley‘s gain.
After Diaz turned down a fight with Carlos Condit (29-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) at UFC 171, and UFC President Dana White turned down an eager Woodley (12-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC), the UFC executive has relented.
Promotion officials today announced the Woodley vs. Condit fight for the March 15 event at Dallas’ American Airlines Center. Although its placement on the card is not yet confirmed, it is certain to serve on the pay-per-view main card.
White initially said Woodley’s standing in the 170-pound division precluded him from facing the higher-ranked Condit, whose bout with Matt Brown at this past Saturday’s UFC on FOX 9 event was nixed when Brown suffered a back injury.
While not thrilled about being stalked via cellphone, praised Woodley’s desire to take face Condit after Brown withdrew and Diaz demurred.
“If Tyron Woodley texts me one more time…†White said. “The guy can’t text me enough. I mean, I’m not kidding you. I’m not being a promoter here. He must’ve texted me 15 times a day, and then when this thing with Georges St-Pierre went down, boom! He wants every fight.â€
“There are guys like (Woodley) that are out there,†he said. “Those are the guys I want to deal with. Those are the guys I want to hear from. I love Tyron Woodley. I love it.â€
Woodley transferred to the UFC following the demise of his longtime promoter, Strikeforce, and instantly made an impression with a first-round knockout of Jay Hieron at UFC 156. In his subsequent outing, however, he squandered his career capital with a lackluster decision loss to Jake Shields at UFC 161.
But at this past month’s UFC 167 event, Woodley rebounded in a big way with a first-round KO of onetime title challenger Josh Koscheck, which impressed White.
Condit recently got back on the winning track by avenging a loss to Martin Kampmann in the headliner of UFC Fight Night 27. Previously, Johny Hendricks outpointed him, and Condit lost a bid for the title of Georges St-Pierre, who recently vacated the belt.
Hendricks and Robbie Lawler are set to headline UFC 171 for the now-vacant title, but the winner of Condit-Woodley is likely to get the winner.
With the addition to the card, UFC 171 now includes:
Champ Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler - for vacant welterweight title
Carlos Condit vs. Tyron Woodley
Hector Lombard vs. Jake Shields
Myles Jury vs. Diego Sanchez
Ovince St. Preux vs. Thiago Silva
Robert McDaniel vs. Tor Troeng
Alex Garcia vs. Sean Spencer
