Their championship bout at UFC 205 ended in a draw, and both men were unsatisfied with the result.
‘Wonderboy’ said he could never accept a draw as a champion, but Woodley fired back and said he only said that to secure an immediate rematch.
“For me, I couldn’t take a draw as being satisfying,” Thompson told ESPN in a recent interview. “As a fighter, I wouldn’t let a draw — I couldn’t go past that.”
“Of course he couldn’t let the draw go that way because he was a challenger,” Woodley countered. “This means he gets another crack, another opportunity to fight with me, so it’s only suiting that he would say that.”
Things continued to heat up from there, with ‘The Chosen One’ claiming that he knocked Thompson down four times in their co-main event at UFC 205.
“That’s how you know your head is so shook,” Woodley said (h/t MMA Fighting). “You got knocked down four times. How I hit you twice and you got knocked down four times?”
“Four times?” Thompson replied. That’s in the past, though.”
“Your math is off,” Woodley snapped back. “Maybe you should have went to college.”
With both men notably tense, Thompson ended the interview on a lighter note by asking Woodley why he’s so ‘mean’.
“Why you gotta be so mean, man?” Thompson joked to Woodley. “This guy is so mean.”
The comment elicited laughter from both men, but Woodley and Thompson mean business at UFC 209.
The highly anticipated pay-per-view, which also features a co-headliner between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, takes place tomorrow night, March 4, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC 209 headliners Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson go at it in a pre-fight interview.
Their championship bout at UFC 205 ended in a draw, and both men were unsatisfied with the result.
‘Wonderboy’ said he could never accept a draw as a champion, but Woodley fired back and said he only said that to secure an immediate rematch.
“For me, I couldn’t take a draw as being satisfying,” Thompson told ESPN in a recent interview. “As a fighter, I wouldn’t let a draw — I couldn’t go past that.”
“Of course he couldn’t let the draw go that way because he was a challenger,” Woodley countered. “This means he gets another crack, another opportunity to fight with me, so it’s only suiting that he would say that.”
Things continued to heat up from there, with ‘The Chosen One’ claiming that he knocked Thompson down four times in their co-main event at UFC 205.
“That’s how you know your head is so shook,” Woodley said (h/t MMA Fighting). “You got knocked down four times. How I hit you twice and you got knocked down four times?”
“Four times?” Thompson replied. That’s in the past, though.”
“Your math is off,” Woodley snapped back. “Maybe you should have went to college.”
With both men notably tense, Thompson ended the interview on a lighter note by asking Woodley why he’s so ‘mean’.
“Why you gotta be so mean, man?” Thompson joked to Woodley. “This guy is so mean.”
The comment elicited laughter from both men, but Woodley and Thompson mean business at UFC 209.
The highly anticipated pay-per-view, which also features a co-headliner between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, takes place tomorrow night, March 4, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
