Report: UFC Looking to Strip Covington of Interim Belt, Book Woodley vs. Till

Colby out son, it’s me & you now. Accept the fight!!

— Darren Till (@darrentill2) July 19, 2018

The Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division has been in a state of flux after divisional prospect Darren Till took to social media on Thursday to claim that interim welterweight champion Colby Covington had pulled out of his highly anticipated title fight against incumbent champ Tyron Woodley.

Till’s social media post wasn’t necessarily taken seriously until ESPN’s Ariel Helwani reported hours later that the UFC was indeed looking to strip Covington of the interim belt and replace the brash American with Till for a title fight against Woodley.

The UFC was initially interested in booking Covington vs. Woodley for UFC 228 in September; however, ESPN reports that “Chaos” wanted more time to prepare for the bout, insisting that the promotion push the fight to a later date.

Till (17-0-1) makes for a logical replacement, as the undefeated Liverpool native is coming off of the biggest win in his career after defeating Stephen Thompson in May. However, the situation is complicated by Till having missed weight badly for that fight.

Meanwhile, Covington was crowned interim welterweight champion after taking a decision win over Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 225 last month.

Woodley hasn’t fought since defending his title against Demian Maia earlier this year; the 36-year-old injured his shoulder during the fight, which required surgery to fix. Woodley has been sidelined ever since.

UFC 228 will take place on Sept. 8 in Dallas, Texas, but still does not have a main event confirmed as of Thursday.