Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight titleholder Tyron Woodley is convinced he’s the worst-treated champion in all of mixed martial arts (MMA), which may have something to do with race.
It was there before he took over the 170-pound division and no doubt it will be there after, as well.
But just because everyone treats him like shit doesn’t necessarily prove it has anything to do with the color of his skin. In fact, division No. 1 contender, Stephen Thompson, insists “The Chosen One” gets far better treatment that reigning middleweight kingpin Michael Bisping.
“Wonderboy” talks to Submission Radio:
“The guy hasn’t been champion long enough to even feel that way, I believe. I mean, to me it seems like the most hated champion would be (Michael) Bisping, you know what I mean? For me, he hasn’t defended the title like he’s supposed to. So automatically getting that rematch and just looking for other fighters and riding on other people’s coattails, maybe have given him or the fans a bad taste in their mouth. But when it comes to race, that’s stupid. I mean, that’s just stupid. One of the highest paid athletes in the UFC is Jon Jones, and pretty much whatever happened to him, he did to himself. And Anderson Silva on the other hand too. So I don’t get it. You know what, it kind of irritates me cause he’s focused on that when he should be focusing more on the fight at hand, because I don’t want to step out there March 4th and face off against a distracted Tyron Woodley. I fight for the glory and I want to fight the best when I step out there March 4th and I want him to be focused on it. So that’s my two cents on that, and I just think it’s ridiculous. But on the other hand, I don’t see what goes on from his point of view when he’s negotiating with the UFC. Of course, I’m not there with him during those negotiations or things like that. So maybe, I don’t know, I’m missing something or maybe he sees something different just because I’m not there during his negotiations and chats with the UFC. But from my side, for him to pull that, it’s not necessary.”
I guess these claims are unfounded?
Woodley will begrudgingly rematch Thompson at the upcoming UFC 209 pay-per-view (PPV) event, booked for Sat., March 4, 2017, inside T-Mobile Arena in the promotion’s home base of Las Vegas, Nevada.
See how that fight came together here.
Woodley was not “The Chosen One” when judges rendered their decision in the UFC 205 co-main event last November in New York, instead calling his 170-pound title fight a draw following five rounds of back-and-forth action.
Will history repeat itself in just over a month? Time will tell.
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