Tyron Woodley (photo via YouTube)

By FCF Staff

Tyron Woodleyis finally going to face his rival Colby Covington tonight at UFC Vegas 11, and his former foe, Stephen Thompson, will be rooting for the former champ.

Covington and Woodley have been feuding through the media for several years now, but the welterweights have yet to fight. That will, however, change tonight.

Recently Thompson spoke with MMA Fighting and while discussing tonight’s match-up, he had this to say about Woodley.

“I am really excited,” Thompson said. “I’m ready to see my man Tyron Woodley go out there and finish this guy. You got the guys that you love to like and then the guys you love to hate in the sport. Colby Covington has made himself into the unlikable guy with the whole beef with the gyms, him and (Jorge) Masvidal were friends, now they don’t like each other.

“Now you have Masvidal, the ‘BMF,’ going up to help Tyron finish Colby Covington. I think it’s great.”

Woodley will be fighting for the first time since May, when he dropped a one-sided, decision loss to Gilbert Burns. That bout marked the first time Woodley had competed, since he lost the welterweight title to Kamaru Usman last March.

“From what I hear, Tyron is ready to rock,” Thompson added. “I think it was an eye-opener in his last fight and he was fired up. He took that first shot and it went downhill from there. But I think he rekindled that flame a little bit. And if you’re going to get motivated for a fight, it’s going to be with a guy like Colby Covington.”

Thompson fought Woodley (19-5-1) in 2016 and 2017, when he was the champion. The two battled to a draw in the first fight  but Woodley won the second fight via decision.

Covington (15-2) will be competing tonight for the first time since last December, when he was stopped by Usman.