Colby Covington, Tyron Woodley exchange insults, angle for fight at UFC 249

With the event only three weeks away, uncertainty still surrounds UFC 249. But Colby Covington and Tyron Woodley are publicly lobbying to fight.

Monday, the uncertainty grew when UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov revealed his April 18 fight with Tony Ferguson is in jeopardy due to potential Russian travel obstacles stemming from coronavirus concerns.

Shortly after the news broke, a handful of fighters publicly volunteered to replace Nurmagomedov against Ferguson – or to replace the fight entirely.

Two UFC welterweight contenders, Covington (15-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) and Woodley (19-4-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) were seemingly on the same wavelength, tweeting insults at each other in near simultaneous fashion.

Covington threw the first verbal jab. Less than two minutes later, Woodley responded.

“The offer still stands @ufc,” Covington wrote. “I’ll go full Teddy Roosevelt & beat the breaks off @TWooodley live from The @WhiteHouse lawn! Save sports and make it free on @ESPN for the people! Im in such a giving mood I’ll even arrange a tour of the oval office for Tyrone, since Obama never did.”

Woodley swiftly responded with, “@ufc Me vs Qweefington April 18th unless Tony wanna roll back up to his Ultimate Fighter weight for the bag. WW bout won’t take no cheese out his LW macaroni.”

Covington and Woodley have exchanged numerous insults in recent years. When coronavirus concerns forced Leon Edwards out of the UFC on ESPN+ 29 headliner, which was supposed to happen last week, Covington projected a social media campaign to step in. The event was ultimately cancelled before a new headliner could be announced.

UFC 249 is currently scheduled for April 18. A location has not been announced for the event, but is expected to stream on pay-per-view after prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.