UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley’s next opponent is shoulder surgery. When he returns, he’d like to fight in March.

That’s when he’s heard UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor (21-3 MMA, 9-1 UFC) is returning to the octagon. The only problem, Woodley (18-3-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC) said, is that the “Notorious” has one demand that might keep him off the card.

“From what I hear, if he’s on the card, he doesn’t want any pay-per-view grossing fighters on the card with him,” Woodley this week told MMAjunkie Radio. “Because he doesn’t want to feed us any more, which I can respect. The dude is the draw. You can hate all you want, but he’s the draw. He’s that dude right now.”

Officially, McGregor’s return is not yet set. He is expected to face interim titleholder Tony Ferguson (23-3 MMA, 13-1 UFC), who’s No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA lightweight rankings, in a title-unifying bout. But first, No. 1-ranked McGregor needs to work out a new contract.

On Tuesday UFC President Dana White said he’s working on a new deal for the Irish champ, who vowed not to return to the octagon unless he is given an ownership stake in the promotion – a demand White isn’t anxious to meet.

Now, it appears McGregor may have another demand for UFC champions like Woodley (18-3-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC), whose contractually promised PPV points might eat into McGregor’s final payout.

“They’ve kind of opened up the door for Conor to do whatever the hell he wants to,” Woodley told MMAjunkie in a separate interview on Wednesday. “He’s slapping commissioners and doing whatever he wants. The blueprint is kind of set for Conor to have his own set of rules, and then everybody else follows the old-school rules.”

MMAjunkie was unable to reach McGregor’s longtime rep, Audie Attar, for comment on Woodley’s claim about PPV.

Despite his opinion about McGregor’s power in the UFC, Woodley doesn’t fault the lightweight champ’s stance. Although the two once jawed on Twitter, and McGregor called Woodley some unpleasant names backstage when they shared the card at UFC 205, Woodley sees the logic in McGregor’s demand.

“The people that are going to watch me are going to watch Conor,” Woodley said. “There are people that watch Conor that might not watch me. So I can see where he’s coming from, in basically feeding us to get pay-per-view. I really don’t have an issue with that.”

Woodley expects to be ready to fight in March, though he could put his return off as late as May. When he starts talking about a date, it sounds like he’ll steer clear of McGregor.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Woodley def. Maia

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