Tyron Woodley talks hand injury and says he’ll “probably” fight in January

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley won’t be returning to the octagon anytime soon.

Woodley went into detail with TMZ Sports about the hand injury he suffered during his recent title defense against Darren Till at UFC 228.

”It’s the CMC joint, I dislocated my thumb in the [Darren Till] fight,” Tyron Woodley explained. “I did it in the first round and then I actually tore ligaments there. At the end of the first round I punched and hit the back of his head. And then the second round, I started elbowing and punching and then I got on top and the coach was like ‘Hook punch him!’ So I started doing what we call the hook punch and my hand started hurting. I was like ‘Aw that doesn’t feel good, let me elbow this motherf**ker. So that’s what I started doing. And at the end of the fight I just saw my thumb just poking out. My natural reaction was to push it back down. I pushed it down, ooh, I’m like ‘I broke it. Wow this is crazy. I’m probably going to have to get pins, this is probably displaced.’ Then it popped up again, I pushed it back down, it made a noise like light bulbs cracking in my hand.”

The 36-year-old also noted the procedure to fix his hand was one of the most brutal things he’s ever experienced.

”I ain’t never wanted to fight no doctor so bad in my life. When he injected me it was at about a 15 out of 10. I’m trying to keep it together cuz I don’t want to be no punk ass bitch.”

Tyron Woodley also outlined the timeline for when he could return to the cage.

”I got 6 to 8 weeks, [doctors] said,” he said. “In two weeks I can move it around, 6 to 8, I should be training full, he doesn’t want me to fight before 6 to 8 weeks. Obviously I have to do a full training camp as well, so probably January.”

Tyron Woodley (19-3-1) is currently riding a seven-fight unbeaten streak, including a first-round TKO win over Robbie Lawler where he captured the welterweight title at UFC 201. The win over Till in his last fight was the first stoppage victory for the champ since July 2016. As he also noted in the interview, it’s seems inevitable that he’ll be fighting Colby Covington next although he’s willing to fight anyone in the 170-pound weight class.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/15/2018.