Usman Would Give Woodley Rematch If Choice Was His

Kamaru Usman has wanted to get his hands on Colby Covington for a very long time now, but if he had the final say, Colby Covington would not be his next opponent, nor would it be his biggest troll Ben Askren, but it would be the man whom he just defeated, Tyron Woodley. There’s just one problem: as has been the case throughout his entire career, Kamaru Usman has no say in whom he fights next, so ultimately whether or not Tyron Woodley receives a rematch is out of his hands:

“If it was up to me, personally, yeah, I would give him a rematch,” Usman said on The Ariel Helwani MMA Show. “I mean, Tyron, I believe has been an exceptional champion…a great guy, great dude…nothing but love and respect for Tyron. This is all business. I just couldn’t sit way back in the shadows and let this other clown run his mouth and talk himself in and out of the title fight. And so it was my time. That was my time to go out there and do what I do, and I did.

“So nothing but respect for Tyron,” Usman continued. “If it was just up to me, of course I would give him a rematch, but it’s not just up to me. There’s a lot of other forces involved that run the company. So it’s not just my decision. It’s their decision as well. So if they feel like they want to go in a different direction, there’s nothing I can do to change that.”

Tyron Woodley was instantly on board with the rematch as well, but Dana White has appointed Colby Covington as the first challenger to Kamaru Usman’s championship, and this interview from Usman indicates that Usman is powerless to shift those plans.