Matt Brown says the UFC welterweight division has plenty of title-ready contenders. He just doesn’t think Tyron Woodley is one of them.

Despite Woodley (15-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) recently being confirmed as the next challenger for 170-pound titleholder Robbie Lawler (27-10 MMA, 12-4 UFC) in UFC 201’s main event, Brown (20-14 MMA, 13-9 UFC) doesn’t see that being the best fight to make.

The likes of Demian Maia (23-6 MMA, 17-6 UFC), who beat Brown (20-14 MMA, 13-8 UFC) by third-round submission this past weekend at UFC 198 for his fifth straight win; Stephen Thompson (12-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC); who has a divisional-best six-fight UFC winning streak; or even Carlos Condit (30-9 MMA, 7-5 UFC), who suffered a razor-thin split-decision loss to Lawler at UFC 195 in January, would be better options in the mind of “The Immortal.”

“Funny enough, the only person I think shouldn’t be in the conversation is Woodley, and I think most would agree,” Brown told MMAjunkie. “Others I think would be possible more deserving would be Stephen Thompson (or) a rematch with Carlos – I don’t think anybody as a fan, nobody would complain about that. It’s not that necessarily he deserves it, but because it was such a good (first) fight. But I think the same for me and Robbie too. I think anybody would pay to see us fight too.”

Woodley’s title shot was met with criticism mainly because of an inactive schedule. By the time he gets in the octagon to challenge Lawler in UFC 201’s pay-per-view headliner, which takes place July 30 at Philips Arena in Atlanta, 18 months will have passed since Woodley last competed.

Woodley, No. 3 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, hasn’t fought since UFC 183 in January 2015, when he earned a narrow split-decision victory over Kelvin Gastelum, who came into the fight overweight. Prior to that win, he earned a 61-second TKO victory over No. 10-ranked Dong Hyun Kim at UFC Fight Night 48 in August 2014.

The other big win on Woodley’s resume is against No. 9-ranked Condit. However, the fight ended on dubiois terms when “The Natural Born Killer” suffered a knee injury that allowed Woodley to capitalize for the TKO. Add it all together, and Brown said he’s not entirely impressed.

“He didn’t beat nobody,” Brown said. “Gastelum is nobody that you beat to get a title fight. The Condit fight – do you even consider that a victory? That’s debatable in itself. He didn’t beat Condit; he won by default. He hasn’t really done anything else beyond that.”

To Woodley’s credit, he was slated to face former champ Johny Hendricks at UFC 192 in October before the fight fell apart just days before when Hendricks was hospitalized due to weight-cutting issues. A win would have validated Woodley’s contender status.

Despite Brown’s protest over Woodley’s avenue to the title fight, the opportunity was at least partially due to timing. With ex-champ Georges St-Pierre’s return status unknown, Maia having just fought, Thompson booked against Rory MacDonald at UFC Fight Night 89, and Condit still flirting with potential retirement, no better option was arguably available than Woodley.

Brown can understand that part of it, he said, but he doesn’t think Woodley should be the guy.

“Our division is a little bit disorganized,” Brown said. “You could ask 10 different people the rankings, and you would get 10 different answers. It’s a little discombobulated. There are a few guys like Maia, like Rory, that are just clear. You beat them, and you should absolutely be heavily in the talks for a title shot. Woodley didn’t.”

For more on UFC 201, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.