Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Tyron Woodley’s coach Duke Roufus feels the former champ doesn’t get enough credit for his ‘crazy’ fight schedule.
Tyron Woodley’s coach, Duke Roufus, has said the former UFC welterweight champion doesn’t get enough credit for his hectic schedule and short training camps in the lead up to his fights.
Woodley (19-4-1) suffered his first UFC loss in almost five years to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 in March, losing his welterweight title in the process. After winning the belt against Robbie Lawler in July 2016, “The Chosen One” fought three title fights in less than eight months, something that Roufus feels more people should respect Woodley for.
“I want to reiterate about Tyron, a lot of people don’t realize, we soldiered through back-to-back-to-back-to-back fights, right out of injury into short training camps,” Roufus told MMA Fighting. “A lot of people sometimes don’t give Tyron his due credit. He fought four title fights in 364 days. The only guy to break that record is Jon Jones.
“Those were back-to-back fights, we were doing six-week training camps for five-round fights, which is kind of an anomaly in our sport. Most people want to take a longer training camp for a longer fight and I’m very proud of that body of work that we put together through Woodley, coach Din (Thomas), and myself.”
Roufus said Woodley’s layoff since his loss to Usman has helped him as not only a fighter but also a person. The former champion was supposed to rematch Lawler at UFC on ESPN 3 in June, but a hand injury forced him out of the fight.
“He was on just a crazy schedule, so I like this little layoff. It’s helping Tyron grow not only as a fighter, but as a person. And I’m proud of him too. You only live once, so I’m happy he’s pursuing music, acting, etc., he’s just a very happy guy right now.”