Tyron Woodley has a golden opportunity directly in front of him. If he defeats Carlos Condit in UFC 171's co-main event, the UFC will have to strongly consider matching him up against the winner of the main event on that March 15 fight card. The significance of that potential fight being that it would be for the UFC welterweight title.

UFC 171's main event will pit No. 1 ranked 170-pounder Johny Hendricks against No. 3 ranked Robbie Lawler. The winner will claim the UFC crown left vacant by former champion Georges St-Pierre when he decided to step away from mixed martial arts for an undisclosed amount of time.

St-Pierre has recently claimed that one of the reasons he stepped away from the sport was his belief that performance-enhancing drugs are a "big problem in the sport."

Woodley (12-2), ranked No. 10 in the welterweight division, recently told MMAFighting.com that he didn't think that was the real reason St-Pierre stepped away from the sport, surrendering his title in the process.

While he disagreed with St-Pierre's claims that PED use by other fighters was one of the reasons he relinquished his title, Woodley did agree that there are fighters stepping into the Octagon with some additional synthetic help, "I've fought guys that I am almost 100 percent can bet my house on that they were on performance-enhancing drugs. Some I've lost, and some I've won. At the end of the day, I just really believe that you still have to beat the person."

The 31-year old Woodley said that when his MMA career nears its end, he won't be one of those fighters that looks to extend their career by chemical means, "I know it's happening. We know it's happening. I personally believe - I'm stubborn, I'm old school, and when it's my time to hang it up, I'm going to hang it up. When my body and my joints are telling me it's over with, and these young bucks come up and start laying a whooping on me, then it's over with. I take pride in knowing that I'm doing it the right way."

Woodley's star is rising in the UFC, and with two knockout wins in his last three fights, it looks as if he'll have a few more years before he has to worry about any "young bucks" stepping up and laying a whooping on him.