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Almost a year after losing his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight title to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235, Tyron Woodley is set to make his return to action when he faces Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC Fight Night 171 on March 21 in London, England.
It’s a fight that was met with initial resistance from Tyron, who was adamant he was deserving of an instant rematch against “The Nigerian Nightmare.” Not only did “The Chosen One” not get an immediate chance to win his title back, but he hasn’t been guaranteed a title shot should he stop “Rocky.”
“If we look at other people’s hand, like in poker, different sets of hands, there would be no case where Joanna Jedrzejczyk didn’t get an instant rematch, Ronda Rousey or Cody Garbrandt,” explained Woodley on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.
“Or you see Holly Holm fight her way back into a title fight so may times afterwards. We’ve seen this things happen like that (quickly).
“I’m, not even guaranteed a title shot after beating Leon Edwards. So how does my deck of cards look different when I’m the one who actually defended four times and won four world title fights in a year?”
To add some salt to Tyron’s wounds, Edwards recently revealed that he is guaranteed a championship fight with a win London. Then again, it will be his ninth straight win so one can understand the thought process there.
Woodley has expressed the sentiment of not getting his championship rematch when compared to others in the past. But at the end of the day, the ex-170-pound king says instead of complaining about the hand he was dealt, he is going to find a way to turn it into a winning one.
“You got to know your deck of cards. I can cry over spilled milk or I can say, ‘Hey, these are my deck of cards and I am going to play the shit out of this hand.”
And the best way to play it is to try and hand Edwards his first loss inside the Octagon in over four years.
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