After Tyron Woodley adamantly proclaimed that he won’t accept a short-notice replacement fight against Kamaru Usman should Darren Till fail to make weight for their scheduled Welterweight title fight at UFC 228 on Sept. 8, 2018, the backlash wasn’t pleasant.
Still, “The Chosen One” isn’t backing down on his stance, as he says it’s going to be Till or bust come fight night, regardless if he makes weight. And he isn’t going to fall into the trap of being made to look like a “pansy” for not fighting “The Nigerian Nightmare.”
“I’ll fight Usman on a full training camp,” Woodley said during a recent media day (via MMA Fighting). “I’ll fight anybody on a full training camp. I’ll fight you on a full training camp, but I’m not a guy, this is not a circus to me. You’re not going to have me prepare to fight a 6-foot-3 striker southpaw, and then on 24 hours’ notice because this motherf*cker missed weight and he’s unprofessional, now I gotta fight a 5-foot-10 switch-stance wrestler,” he said.
“No, you’re not going to waste my time, you’re not going to money that I put into training camps, you’re not going to add this one crazy variable and make me feel like I’m the pansy for not taking the fight. No, it’s not what happened. So if he’s making some money for making weight, congratulations, he gets some free bags.”
Till has missed weight for tow of his UFC fights, more recently coming in 3.5 pounds over the limit for his fight against Stephen Thompson in his hometown of Liverpool, England. Furthermore, Woodley wasn’t too pleased with UFC after the promotion set an interim title fight between Colby Covington and Rafael dos Anjos, when he was an active champion when not injured.
“I’m already ready to fight him,” Woodley said. “I’m already training. I’m not doing that bullsh*t fight someone on 24 hours. This is not a joke to me. I train my ass off, I put myself in position to be successful. What other champion do you see that does that? Name me one. Name me another champion who defended his title three times in one year and had four world title fights and then had an interim title put in before one year expired? Name me another one. I’m not about the bullsh*t.”
Nevertheless, Woodley is focusing on the task at hand, not Till’s weight issues or his longstanding complicated relationship with UFC.
“I’m a fighter who likes to focus on the fight,” Woodley said. “I don’t want to focus on him making weight, that’s out of my control. I’m going to make weight. Tell me one time you’ve seen me step on the scale and you didn’t see 170 or less. I’m a professional, I’m going to do what I have to to make weight,” he added.
“Whether he’s 170 or 176, he’s still going to get his ass kicked. That’s something that he has to deal with. And his body is going to be beat up from cutting all that weight. He’s probably not doing it the right way. So, it’s going to be to my benefit if he doesn’t make weight.”