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Midnight Mania! Usman claims he’s signed a title fight contract, Woodley says he’s lying

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By Andrew Pearson
Celebrities Visit SiriusXM - September 14, 2018 Photo by Robin Marchant/Getty Images

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Kamaru Usman says he’s signed a contract to fight for the welterweight title. Dana White said he’s fighting for the welterweight title. The only problem is, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley says he’s not fighting for the welterweight title just yet.

Woodley wants to face former interim champion Colby Covington first. Covington has been running his mouth for a long time, evidently to little effect, except to earn himself a White House visit with Donald Trump. The UFC seems uninterested in promoting a fight between Covington and Woodley, giving Kamaru Usman the same opponents Colby just faced, as if to negate his best victories, and promptly stripped him of interim gold when he couldn’t make his unification bout with Woodley in September.

Dana White has also been frustrated with Woodley, implicitly threatening to take his belt away unless he defends in March, though Woodley just defeated Darren Till in September. If the UFC did strip their sitting champion, it would be unprecedented, given that many champions have gone much longer between title defenses without this kind of visible frustration from Dana and Company.

Signed contracts are not a guarantee of a fight happening. In the past, the UFC has used contenders, such as Khabib Nurmagomedov, against each other to lower fighter pay. This also isn’t the first time Usman has claimed he had a bout agreement signed to face the champion. Woodley, though, insists that Usman is flat out lying.

How will the drama shake out? Will Woodley defend his title in March, and if so, will it be against Covington, or Usman?

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Sleep well, Maniacs! A better tomorrow is always possible. Follow me on Twitter and Facebook @Vorpality

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