UFC Champion Tyron Woodley Describes Recent Hand Injury

UFC welterweight title holder Tyron Woodley describes his hand injury and the details will make most wince.

Woodley successfully retained his welterweight gold last month. “The Chosen One” was open to defending his title against Colby Covington at UFC 230 on Nov. 3, but a hand injury prevented him from doing so. The injury occurred during Woodley’s title bout with Darren Till at UFC 228.

Woodley took part in the latest episode of TMZ Sports’ Hollywood Beatdown from a doctor’s office in Pensacola, Florida. On the episode, he described his hand injury:

“It’s the CMC joint, I dislocated my thumb in the [Darren Till] fight. 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.”

Woodley is expected to be out for eight to 12 weeks. When he returns, he’ll likely defend his title against Colby Covington.