Former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has explained why he believes he’s got what it takes to dethrone Israel Adesanya.
Woodley and Adesanya have been going back and forth on social media since ‘The Chosen One’ said Adesanya fears fighters with power.
Speaking on the latest episode of his Hollywood Beatdown show on TMZ Sports, Woodley broke down how the beef with Adesnaya began, he said. “In addition to trying to stay ‘rona free, I’m trying to stay f*ckboy free too, and it seems like there’s a lot of that going on in the UFC.
“Israel Adesanya, we can start with him because he’s probably got the most juice right now out of all the fighters. . . So the question that was posed to me – and it’s been asked many, many times – would I ever move up to go to middleweight? And my answer is yes,” Woodley added. “My answer’s gonna be yes whether Israel’s f*cking sitting next to me, it’s gonna be yes whether Dana asks me, or a f*cking person from around the corner, Sam sausage-head from the alley. No matter who asks me, I’m gonna say yes because if you want to be one of the best fighters on Earth, you have to fight the best. Many fighters have bumped up weight classes, dropped down weight classes, and shuffle around to prove that they’re the baddest man alive. They’ve done it in boxing, they’ve done it in mixed martial arts, you see that theme that fighters are trying to attack that double belt in the UFC. So of course.
“How many times have I said that Israel Adesanya, he’s a stud, he’s a star, and given him kudos? A lot. So I think he took it personal. He’s really sensitive and when somebody starts getting in their feelings — I had the same situation with Robbie Lawler — that means there’s a little b*tch in the blood, and now I want to test it out.”
The former 170lb king went on to explain why he beats Adesanaya and used common opponent Kelvin Gastelum to demonstrate his point.
“When I look at Israel Adesanya, I got to look at his weakness,” Woodley said. “And his weakness may not be something that we’ve seen exploited, but it’s something that he’s protecting. It’s a reason why he fights so hard after getting taken down, it’s a reason why he wants to keep the fight standing: because that’s what he does best.
“But look at the fight against Kelvin Gastelum. Kelvin Gastelum, for much of that fight, was winning,” Woodley added. “I don’t know if you recall when I fought Kelvin ‘Fatselum’ but I fought him when he was at middleweight and I was at welterweight and my fight didn’t look nothing like that. I came out there, face clean, broke my foot in the first round, and I made pretty easy work of Kelvin Gastelum. That was a Fight of the Year candidate. That tells me that if I’m a better striker than Gastelum, I punch harder than Gastelum, I’m a better wrestler than Gastelum, I have a better I.Q. than Gastelum and I can be — you’ve got to think about me taking you down, you’ve got to think about me knocking you out, you’ve got to think about me submitting you, you’ve got to think about me making you miss, you’ve got to think about my explosiveness. I’m gonna give you so many things to think about and he’s already sensitive, and he’s already in his feelings, so I feel confident about the fight.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)
Do you think Tyron Woodley could beat Israel Adesanya?