Tyron Woodley is ready to prove he’s a better boxer than Jake Paul when the two meet in a highly-anticipated main event rematch later tonight (Sat., Dec. 18, 2021) live on Showtime PPV and FITE.tv from inside Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
As expected, there’s been no shortage of trash talk between the two fighters leading up to the rematch. Woodley may be filling in on short notice for the injured Tommy Fury, but he just fought Paul to a decision back in August (highlights HERE). There’s a sense of familiarity between the two men and it seems to be fueling another bad blood matchup this weekend on PPV.
During Friday’s ceremonial weigh ins, “Chosen One” and “Problem Child” had one final moment to unleash verbal warfare when they came face-to-face. After exchanging some last-second trash talk Woodley spoke with Ariel Helwani to explain what was said in the heated moment.
“Tomorrow won’t be a short night,” Woodley explained. “It’s gonna be a long night, but nobody gonna second guess you after tomorrow night. Thank you for bringing the dog out of me. Tomorrow we battle. Eat well, rest well, it’s gonna be a f*cking fight tomorrow night.”
We’ve been down this road before with Woodley. The former UFC welterweight champion has promised to be more offensive and aggressively charged for his fights only to fizzle out in the moment. Woodley will have a shot at an extra $500K with a knockout victory this time around, but we’ll have to wait and see if the veteran fighter really lets go.
Paul, who defeated Woodley by split decision in their first meeting, is entering the rematch with supreme confidence. The social media star believes he’s getting better everyday in the gym and had no problem letting Woodley know during their staredown.
“I said, ‘It’s f*cking go mode.’” Paul said. “A different Jake Paul you’re going to see this time, we’re f*cking bucking in the middle of the ring. No funny sh*t. No funny sh*t like last time. I’m f*cking him up. I’m f*cking him up! I’m f*cking him up, Ariel! I’m f*cking him up!”
As of now, Paul is a 2-1 favorite to defeat Woodley on Saturday night and keep his undefeated boxing record in tact. However, if Woodley finally starts unleashing his offensive power and swings for the fences it could finally spell the end for the Jake Paul experiment.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE coverage of tonight’s PPV main card. The $59.99 Showtime PPV (also available on FITE.tv outside North America) kicks off at 9 p.m. ET (watch it here), with Paul and Woodley likely to make the walk closer to midnight.