Tyron Woodley announces he will rematch Stephen Thompson at UFC 209

The welterweight division is back on track.

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley announced Monday on his podcast, The Morning Wood Show, that he intends to fight Stephen Thompson in a rematch on March 4 at UFC 209, ending weeks of heated debate over who should be Woodley’s next opponent.

“March 4th, UFC 209 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at what I believe to be the T-Mobile Center, you will see ‘Wonderboy’ get the worst ass-whooping of his life,” Woodley said. “And hopefully all of his fans and all of his over-entitlement deceases at that moment and we can do a eulogy for it.”

Woodley retained his welterweight title with a controversial majority draw over Thompson at UFC 205. The months since have been eventful as Thompson has publicly campaigned for a rematch to settle things, while Woodley has lobbied to fight other opponents, including a 180-pound catchweight bout that Woodley unsuccessfully chased against UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.

Tensions came to a head on Sunday when a frustrated Thompson posted a picture on Twitter of a signed bout agreement to fight Woodley. And though Woodley initially brushed off Thompson’s barbs, now that the rematch has been agreed upon by both sides, the reigning UFC champion said he plans to make “Wonderboy” pay for the way in which the whole situation has played out.

“From this point forward, I’m going to commit to taking this dude out in the most embarrassing and worst fashion,” Woodley said. “And with that said, that last fight is in the dust. I ain’t going to cry over spilled milk. I ain’t going to cry over what round, who did what, where, when, where. That fight is in the dust. It’s done, it’s over with.

“This is a new fight, the most important fight of my life, not only to just continue to be the champion and to keep my belt — I can’t allow myself to lose to him and what he stands for and what his fans stand for, and this overly-entitled group of individuals who are in mixed martial arts. I can’t let myself lose to that. So with that said, let’s get to work and let’s get this party on the go.”

UFC 209 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event also features a heavyweight bout pitting Alistair Overeem against Mark Hunt. An updated UFC 209 fight card can be seen below.

• Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson
• Alistair Overeem vs. Mark Hunt
• Mirsad Bektic vs. Darren Elkins
• Todd Duffee vs. Mark Godbeer
• Lando Vannata vs. David Teymur
• Paul Craig vs. Tyson Pedro