Tyron Woodley gives timetable for Octagon return

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has been a busy man. Since winning the title with a thunderous, first-round knockout of Robbie Lawler in July of 2016, he has defended it against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson (twice), and most recently, against dangerous grappler Demian Maia in the co-main event of UFC 214. In addition to his busy schedule as one of the most active champions in the UFC, he also moonlights as an analyst for Fox Sports, and as an actor.

Now, it’s time for a bit of rest. Currently suffering with a torn labrum, the champ plans to pass on surgery (if possible), take some time off, and allow the complicated welterweight contendership situation to sort itself out in the meantime.

He broke down this plan on Sirius XM (via MMAMania).

“Obviously, if I can avoid going under the knife, I obviously want to try to do that. So that’s my option right now. I tore my left labrum in 2008. At that time, I wasn’t really financially set up to go out and get PRP and stem cell, and I didn’t have insurance at that time, so my options were really limited. I had to wait like two or three years to get it done because I didn’t have insurance. Long story short, it’s gonna be a minute before I’m out in the Octagon, which almost works to the division’s credit because the deck needs to be shuffled a little bit more. There’s no real and true clear-cut number one contender right now, and once these fights take place and these guys get out there and compete, doing a training camp and fight, the world champ will just be getting back in the mix. So it’s perfect timing.”

Who do you want to see Tyron Woodley fight in his next outing? Jorge Masvidal? Robbie Lawler? Rafael dos Anjos? Colby Covington? Join the conversation in the comments section.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 9/13/2017.