“Now I got to do similar to what Georges St-Pierre did when he lost to Matt Hughes and had to come back and avenge that, and lost to Matt Serra and had to come back and avenge that.”
Tyron Woodley isn’t throwing in the towel just yet.
After losing his welterweight title to heavy underdog Kamaru Usman at UFC 235, Woodley is taking inspiration from former welterweight king and pound-for-pound great Georges St-Pierre in his road back to title contention.
St-Pierre lost in two title fights to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra but came back to avenge both losses and cement his legacy as the greatest welterweight champion of all time.
Speaking to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani in a recent interview, Woodley said he is adamant about reclaiming the title in order to prove to the world that he is still the best welterweight in the sport.
“Now I got to do similar to what Georges St-Pierre did when he lost to Matt Hughes and had to come back and avenge that, and lost to Matt Serra and had to come back and avenge that,” Woodley said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday (transcript via MMA News). “I thought that everything was on the up-and-up now — don’t have to struggle this much with the promotion, don’t have to struggle this much with the game plan. Had that pretty much down. Not that I got comfortable, but I thought my days of struggling was over.
“But they keep telling me the comeback is going to be so severe, it’s going to be so vicious that God had to [bring] me to this point. And when I come back, I’m not going to be able to even imagine what’s in store for me. So that’s kind of where I’m at mentally right now.”
Woodley will look to spring back into the winners column against Robbie Lawler at UFC on ESPN 4, who he originally knocked out to win the welterweight title back in 2016. The event takes place later this year, June 29 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.