Like many fighters, Tyron Woodley had his fighting plans dashed due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
The former UFC welterweight champion was set to square off against the UK’s Leon Edwards in London on 21 March before the event was shut down.
Now without an opponent and any firm plans in place to fight any time soon, Woodley appears to have an itch he’s eager to scratch as soon as possible.
The UFC has said it hopes to resume its fighting schedule on 9th May and Woodley hopes to get on that card.
“I want to fight sooner than later,” Woodley told TMZ Sports. “I think it’s a chance that a fight can go down May 9. And then they might have in their mind; ‘OK May 9 we’re gonna do a card, May 16 we’re gonna do a card,’ and then they’re gonna do a fight each weekend.
“At any point the government can come down and say ‘No, stop.’ I feel like fighting May 9 makes the most sense. I’ve been holding on to this conditioning, this training, dieting, my weight — I’ve been holding it for four months.
“I want to whip some ass. I think this is gonna become my new normal, so I’ll keep this conditioning up, so it would be dope to have this hard work pay off.”
In terms of his next opponent, Woodley doesn’t seem to mind.
“The Chosen One” last appeared in the UFC’s Octagon on 19 March when he lost his championship to current UFC welterweight kingpin Kamaru Usman.
While he has long campaigned for a rematch, as well as a fight to settle his grudge with ex-interim UFC welterweight champ Colby Covington, Woodley just wants to get back into the cage as soon as possible.
Woodley has only competed twice since July 2017 and he wants to get back into his full fighting flow despite the world being locked down.
“I don’t care at this point. I’m seeking performances. I want to go out and put three or four crazy performances this year where people are like, ‘What the f**k did he do to Tyron?’ I’m willing to fight anybody at this point.
“I talked to my manager. We were pushing to get on that [May 9] card.”