UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is clearly not happy about getting a bout with former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre pulled from his grasp.
UFC President Dana White has gone back and forth with who will fight “GSP” in his return bout. At first, the UFC announced earlier this year that UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping would fight GSP. However, due to injuries to both fighters, the UFC pulled the bout.
White then came out and stated that Woodley would get to fight St-Pierre. That bout got nixed due to Woodley’s bad performance in his successful title defense over Demian Maia at UFC 214. Now, Bisping will get the fight with St-Pierre at UFC 217.
The current UFC champion recently did an interview with Sports Illustrated, and during the interview, he made it clear that he is willing to move up to middleweight if GSP beats Bisping for the middleweight title. As for the reason he is willing to do this, it’s pretty clear. Woodley wants to establish himself as the greatest welterweight of all time and cap off the best run in the history of the welterweight division.
“I wanted to fight one more time, I was being greedy. I wanted to go out here and beat [Demian Maia], and I wanted to fight Georges St-Pierre in November in New York City. This would’ve been the greatest year competitively, and after I beat Georges, there is no question that I’ll be Fighter of the Year. I fight five title fights in 18 months and beat the greatest welterweight of all time, nobody has done anything like that in our sport. . .
“My brother-in-law just asked me [who I’m fighting next], and I said you know what, if he wins I’m going up there to fight him cause you can’t keep running from me.”
“I would fight Bisping as well, to be honest. I’m not just saying I want to move up to middleweight because at welterweight I’m a larger size and I feel comfortable at the weight. I have no issues making it, it’s not easy, but I always get it done. To fight Bisping or Georges, I’d love fight either one. But mainly I want to fight Georges.”
There may be a problem with Woodley’s plan. If you recall, Robert Whittaker just won the interim UFC middleweight championship and is expected to fight the winner of the upcoming title bout. However, Woodley isn’t worried about it due to the fact that meritocracy always takes a back seat to economics.
“There is no such thing as a stipulation, you’re a sub-contract worker. You’re not obligated or required to do anything. What about when Johny Hendricks was the clear-cut winner, and it was time for him to fight for the title and he got passed over by Nick Diaz who lost to Carlos Condit? It’s a game of what fight makes money, that’s all it is.
“There is no No. 1 contender, I’ve fought them all, right? At the end of the day, you don’t get rewarded for beating someone whose claim is the No. 1 contender, the No. 1 guy outside the champion. There is no reward for that. . .
“But guys can go out and fight guys that aren’t even in their weight class, aren’t even ranked in the top-10. Bisping’s last fight against Dan Henderson, was Dan Henderson even in the top-15 at the time? Conor fought Nate Diaz at 170, and neither one of those guys are true 170-pounders. It’s not a matter of No. 1 contendership anymore. It’s a matter of money and business.”
UFC 217 is set to take place on Saturday, November 4th in New York at Madison Square Garden. The UFC will be adding more bouts to this card, and it will likely be stacked.
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