Stephen Thompson responds to Tyron Woodley's comments about fan racism - 'I don't see it'

Some fight fans were caught off guard earlier this week to learn that Tyron Woodley believes he's the most poorly treated Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) titleholder in the history of the promotion. The guy hasn't even been champion for more than six months. Other fight fans were rubbed the wrong way to learn that Woodley believes the color of his skin lends a hand in his lack of popularity. Stephen Thompson, who fought Woodley to a majority draw back at UFC 205 and will meet the champion again at UFC 209 on Mar. 4 for the welterweight championship, is among those who have no idea what the hell "Chosen One" is talking about.

"You know what, I don't get it and I just don't see it," said Thompson in a recent interview with MMA Weekly about Woodley's remarks over race. "I'm not seeing any issues and I'm not seeing his part of it. I mean everybody knows who Tyron is man. I know there's some things that he has turned down that the UFC tried to get him to do. I think he's an exciting fighter. I know he brought up Demetrious Johnson and I just don't think Demetrious has a draw as some of these other fighters do."

Sadly enough, Woodley also commented on how he believed UFC built "Wonderboy" up like an all-American at UFC 205 and had him walk out with the American flag. Of course, that wasn't the case.

"The reason I walked out with the flag is I support our wounded vets," added Thompson. "I want to let him know and the fans know why I walked out with the flag and I know he brought it up. I support our wounded vets and they had actually did a motorcycle ride for hundreds of miles to get there. They had the flag and they just wanted me to walk out with it."

There seems to be a lot more drama leading up to their rematch at UFC 209 than there was prior to their New York City meeting. You would think there would be more respect and understanding shared between the two after fighting to a draw, but Woodley and Thompson continue to trade barbs at every turn. In this case, you'd have to favor Thompson. There's nothing wrong with supporting our troops and there's nothing he can do to change Woodley's mind about his lackadaisical fan base.