Like its lightweight division was in the early-to-mid 2000s and its heavyweight division is always, the UFC’s welterweight division is a bit of a mess right now. The most stable champion in years was just KTFO, the new champ thinks he’s already entitled to money fights (even if it means ignoring the actual top contender to do so), and the longest running champ is suddenly mounting a comeback just to screw things up even worse. Add to that a featherweight and a lightweight who have made the division their temporary home for some reason and a wild card who’s calling for championship fights despite the fact that he’s just coming off his latest suspension and you’ve got yourself a grade-A clusterf*ck, people.
Thankfully, the most authoritative and cleanly-shaven president in all of MMA is here to set things straight.
Speaking with UFC.com, Dana White stated that newly-crowned welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will in fact be taking on No. 1 contender Stephen Thompson next, no matter how enticing that GSP money fight seems.
“There are other guys deserving of a title shot,” said White. “Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson is going to fight for the 170-pound title and then we’ll see what happens with Nick and Nate.”
It’s interesting that White would even mention Nate in terms of the 170-pound division, as if two wins over the same featherweight would somehow put him in line for a shot at the title. Then again, it’s also kind of hilarious that Nick Diaz is being mentioned as anything close to a contender when he’s coming off an NC at middleweight and hasn’t won a fight at 170 since 2011, but that’s just how matchmaking works in this wacky sport nowadays. Joe Silva doesn’t even come into the office most days, I hear, and when he does he just spends most of his time napping and making runs to the water cooler to chat up Joyce from accounting.
Anyways, White also took a moment to address what we can expect to see from Conor McGregor next, and wouldn’t you know it, it’s the division that he’s actually the champion of!
“I fully expect Conor to come back and defend his 145-pound title,” White continued. “I think that Nate feels his brother should have the fight at 170, but Nick is not going to come back and fight for the title right away.”
Oh, well I suppose we can disregard what I said about Joe Silva being an indolent employee coasting off the triumphs of his past, then. Always a class act from top to bottom, that Joe Silva, which is more than what can be said for Joyce from accounting.
