Robbie Lawler vs. Tyron Woodley | UFC Betting Sites

Tyron Woodley ‘Can’t Believe He’s The Best’ Without Fighting GSP

Hardly five days after he won the UFC welterweight title with a shocking first-round knockout of Robbie Lawler at July 30’s UFC 201 from Atlanta, Tyron Woodley is causing quite the shakeup at the top of one of the most talented divisions in fighting. ‘The Chosen One’ famously called out for a fight with Nick […]

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‘The Chosen One’ famously called out for a fight with Nick Diaz, or even better yet, all-time great former champion Georges St. Pierre, after his title-clinching win despite there being a clear-cut top contender in the form of Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.

Amidst never-ending rumors of his UFC return, ‘GSP’ was quick to turn around and accept the fight, and Woodley reiterated that he’s already spoken to the legend during a recent episode of his aptly-named podcast ‘The Morning Wood’ (via FOX Sports):

“I’ve already spoken to the lineal champion, the No. 1 welterweight, the pound-for-pound one of the greatest in the sport. His interest is fighting me,” Woodley said. “Georges St-Pierre wants to fight me. And guess what? I want to fight him. There’s honor in it. If I’m going to put it on the line, risk it, I want to know that I at least had the opportunity to prove to myself that I am the best welterweight to ever grace the damn Octagon, and if he’s going to give me that chance, I can give a hell less.”

It’s understandable as to why Woodley would want to test himself against the man who many feel is the greatest welterweight, and the trend of fighters looking for big paydays with top-selling names shouldn’t surprise anyone at this point. Yet with Thompson on an impressive seven-fight win streak and St. Pierre having been out of the game since his highly controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November 2013, it’s also impossible not to wonder if ‘Wonderboy’ is clearly the best choice here.

That’s not how Woodley views it, however, as he insists his employers will agree to his title fight against St. Pierre:

“Georges St-Pierre definitely wants to fight me. I’ve had a conversation with Georges St-Pierre. He’s interested in the bout, and we’re going to make the bout happen.”

Woodley then appeared on last night’s UFC Tonight to reaffirm his belief that he simply cannot call himself the best welterweight in the world without having faced the legend who never lost his belt:

.@TWooodley: “I can never walk around with this belt and believe I’m the best WW on Earth if I haven’t competed against @GeorgesStPierre“

— UFC Tonight (@UFCTonight) August 4, 2016

Again, an admirable goal to be sure, but if the bout does get signed, fans – and Thompson – are going to be angered by the outcome. ‘Wonderboy’ has argued that St. Pierre wouldn’t provide as much a challenge because he simply hasn’t fought in three years, and in a sense, he’s right.

There are also the impactful roadblocks of St. Pierre’s hardline stance against PED use, which is obviously being curbed in at least some capacity by the recent rash of USADA busts, and his big-money contract with Under Armor that conflicts with the UFC’s highly-criticized Reebok sponsorship deal.

No matter what fight gets booked, one thing has become clear: for a champion who supposedly can’t sell a pay-per-view on his own, Woodley is certainly dominated many of MMA’s headlines as of late.

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UFC Rankings Update: Tyron Woodley Debuts On Pound-For-Pound List

As expected, the official UFC rankings got a huge shakeup at 170 pounds following Tyron Woodley’s thunderous first-round knockout of Robbie Lawler in the main event of last weekend’s (Sat., July 30, 2016) UFC 201 pay-per-view (PPV) from Atlanta, Georgia. Woodley debuted at No. 10 on the pound-for-pound ranks, dropping Lawler a massive eight spots […]

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Woodley debuted at No. 10 on the pound-for-pound ranks, dropping Lawler a massive eight spots to No. 12. Daniel Cormier also rose up two spots to No. 3, pushing the temporarily suspended Jon Jones down to No. 4. Champions Conor McGregor, Jose Aldo, Eddie Alvarez, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and Stipe Miocic up one spot each.

The win pushed “Ruthless” down to the No. 1 spot at welterweight, forcing perceived top contender Stephen Thompson, former title contender Rory MacDonald, and Demian Maia all down one spot each. After previous No. 9 Matt Brown lost to a vicious first-round body kick from Jake Ellenberger, ‘The Immortal’ dropped three spots to No. 12, raising Rick Story, Dong Hyun Kim, and Gunnar Nelson one spot each to the Nos. 9 through 12 spot.

‘The Juggernaut’ re-debuted on the rankings at No. 15, auspiciously three spots below the man he just demolished in the first round.

The only other division that saw significant shakeup was women’s strawweight following Karolina Kowalkiewicz’s upset win over former No. 3-ranked Rose Namajunas. Kowalkiewicz rose three spots to No. 2, while Namajunas went down one spot to No. 4. Carla Esparza also dropped one spot to No. 3, and Valerie Letourneau traded spots with Maryna Moroz at the Nos. 8 and 9 spots.

Check out the full updated rankings from UFC.com below:

POUND-FOR-POUND
1 Demetrious Johnson
2 Dominick Cruz
3 Daniel Cormier
4 Jon Jones
5 Conor McGregor
6 Jose Aldo
7 Eddie Alvarez
8 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
9 Stipe Miocic
10 Tyron Woodley *NR
11 Michael Bisping
12 Robbie Lawler
13 Rafael Dos Anjos
14 Luke Rockhold
15 TJ Dillashaw

FLYWEIGHT
Champion : Demetrious Johnson
1 Joseph Benavidez
2 Henry Cejudo
3 Kyoji Horiguchi
3 Jussier Formiga
5 Ian McCall
6 Wilson Reis
7 Zach Makovsky
8 Ali Bagautinov
9 Louis Smolka
10 John Moraga
11 Matheus Nicolau
12 Dustin Ortiz
13 Justin Scoggins
14 Ray Borg
15 Sergio Pettis

BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion : Dominick Cruz
1 TJ Dillashaw
2 Urijah Faber
3 Raphael Assuncao
4 Bryan Caraway
5 John Lineker
6 Aljamain Sterling
7 Michael McDonald
8 Cody Garbrandt
9 John Dodson
10 Thomas Almeida
11 Takeya Mizugaki
12 Eddie Wineland
13 Jimmie Rivera
14 Johnny Eduardo
15 Frankie Saenz

FEATHERWEIGHT
Champion : Conor McGregor
1 Jose Aldo (Interim Champion)
2 Frankie Edgar
3 Max Holloway
4 Ricardo Lamas
5 Cub Swanson
6 Charles Oliveira
7 Jeremy Stephens
8 Dennis Bermudez
9 Brian Ortega
10 Hacran Dias
11 Darren Elkins
12 Dooho Choi
13 Yair Rodriguez
14 Tatsuya Kawajiri
15 Mirsad Bektic

LIGHTWEIGHT
Champion : Eddie Alvarez
1 Khabib Nurmagomedov
2 Rafael Dos Anjos
3 Tony Ferguson
4 Nate Diaz
5 Edson Barboza
6 Donald Cerrone
7 Anthony Pettis
8 Dustin Poirier
9 Michael Chiesa
10 Michael Johnson
11 Beneil Dariush
12 Will Brooks
13 Al Iaquinta
14 Gilbert Melendez
15 Rashid Magomedov

WELTERWEIGHT
Champion : Tyron Woodley
1 Robbie Lawler
2 Stephen Thompson
3 Rory MacDonald
4 Demian Maia
5 Carlos Condit
6 Kelvin Gastelum
7 Neil Magny
8 Johny Hendricks
9 Rick Story
10 Dong Hyun Kim
11 Gunnar Nelson
12 Matt Brown
13 Tarec Saffiedine
14 Donald Cerrone
15 Jake Ellenberger *NR

MIDDLEWEIGHT
Champion : Michael Bisping
1 Luke Rockhold
2 Chris Weidman
3 Jacare Souza
4 Vitor Belfort
5 Anderson Silva
6 Robert Whittaker
7 Gegard Mousasi
7 Lyoto Machida
9 Uriah Hall
10 Derek Brunson
11 Tim Kennedy
12 Thales Leites
13 Dan Henderson
14 Rafael Natal
15 Yoel Romero *NR

LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion : Daniel Cormier
1 Jon Jones (Interim Champion)
2 Anthony Johnson
3 Glover Teixeira
4 Alexander Gustafsson
5 Ryan Bader
6 Ovince Saint Preux
7 Mauricio Rua
8 Rashad Evans
9 Jimi Manuwa
10 Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
11 Nikita Krylov
12 Corey Anderson
13 Ilir Latifi
14 Patrick Cummins
15 Gian Villante

HEAVYWEIGHT
Champion : Stipe Miocic
1 Fabricio Werdum
2 Cain Velasquez
3 Alistair Overeem
4 Junior Dos Santos
5 Ben Rothwell
6 Andrei Arlovski
7 Travis Browne
8 Brock Lesnar
9 Mark Hunt
10 Josh Barnett
11 Derrick Lewis
12 Roy Nelson
13 Frank Mir
14 Stefan Struve
15 Ruslan Magomedov

WOMEN’S STRAWWEIGHT
Champion : Joanna Jedrzejczyk
1 Claudia Gadelha
2 Karolina Kowalkiewicz
3 Carla Esparza
4 Rose Namajunas
5 Tecia Torres
6 Jessica Andrade
7 Joanne Calderwood
8 Valerie Letourneau
9 Maryna Moroz
10 Paige VanZant
11 Michelle Waterson
12 Jessica Penne
13 Jessica Aguilar
14 Randa Markos
15 Juliana Lima

WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT
Champion : Amanda Nunes
1 Miesha Tate
2 Ronda Rousey
3 Valentina Shevchenko
4 Holly Holm
5 Julianna Pena
6 Cat Zingano
7 Sara McMann
8 Liz Carmouche
8 Raquel Pennington
10 Jessica Eye
11 Bethe Correia
12 Germaine de Randamie
13 Ashlee Evans-Smith
14 Katlyn Chookagian
15 Marion Reneau

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Tyron Woodley Explains Why He Doesn’t Want ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson Fight

Newly minted UFC welterweight champion Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley has received some criticism after winning the title this past weekend (July 30, 2016) at UFC 201, but not for his performance, as his first round knockout over Robbie Lawler was as definitive as it gets. Woodley, however, raised some eyebrows when he announced who […]

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Showing no interest in facing off with the clear cut No. 1-contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, Woodley instead said he’d like to fight retired former longtime champion Georges St. Pierre or returning fan favorite and former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz.
Speaking on yesterday’s edition of The MMA Hour, “The Chosen One” explain his reasoning for throwing out names like St. Pierre and Diaz:

“I want to say I’m the best in the world,” Woodley said. “Right now I’m the UFC welterweight champion of the world. People can say I’m the best in the world, but I’ve fought Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz is not a retired fighter. So, why not compete against Nick Diaz, who is definitely a top-five (fighter)? I feel like his brother is finally cashing in on that big payday, but I do believe Nick Diaz has brought enough attention to the sport, raised enough eyebrows, put enough butts in the seats, sold enough pay-per-view buys. Maybe he deserves — since we’re using this world ‘deserves’ so much — maybe he deserves to cash out, and that’s why I made a suggestion for UFC 202. It’s three weeks away, I’m in great shape, and I know he’s training with his brother getting him ready for his fight.

“Secondly, Georges St-Pierre is the best of all-time. I can say I’m better than Georges, but I’ve not competed against him so I can’t really make that bold statement. If Georges St-Pierre decides that he wants to come back and he’s interested in fighting me, which he is, that’s going to be my No. 1 pick.

“But in hindsight I would like to fight both of them. I would like to prepare myself, get through Georges St-Pierre, shock the world once again, they say that I’m the best in the world, and then after that I would like to fight Nick Diaz as well. Because (after) those two fights, nobody can ever say I’m not one of the best welterweights on the planet Earth. If I knock out Robbie Lawler — who was the goliath of the weight division, everybody was thinking he was so invincible and unbeatable — and if I knock out GSP and Nick Diaz, I pretty much cemented myself in the UFC Hall of Fame.”

As far as Thompson goes, Woodley says his words may have come back to bite him. “Wonderboy”, who is has scored back-to-back dominant wins over former champion Johny Hendricks and top contender Rory MacDonald, had previously said that he’d rather fight Lawler. Now, Woodley is willing to grant him that wish:
“Also, Wonderboy’s words just bit him in the butt. I didn’t put these words in his mouth. He said that Robbie Lawler would take this fight. He felt that the fans would want to watch Robbie Lawler fight against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, that it would be a more exciting fight, that I would fade in the later rounds and he felt like Robbie Lawler was going to take it home.

“When he makes those statements, and you’re not the pay-per-view buy, you’re not the money fight, you’re not the (guy who) people are going to be jumping off the wall buying pay-per-views to watch Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ fight — not to say in his career that won’t happen, he’s an exceptional fighter, he’s beaten two phenomenal athletes back-to-back — but when he said those words out of his mouth, he wrote a check his ass couldn’t cash. So now he’ll get his chance to fight Robbie Lawler and I’ll go out and I’ll prove I’m the very, very best in the world by fighting the Hall of Famers.”

Do you agree with Woodley chasing the ‘money fight’, or should a champion face off with the No. 1 contender?

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Stephen Thompson Guarantees He’s Fighting Tyron Woodley Next

Top-ranked UFC welterweight Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson may be known as one of the nicest fighters in MMA, but after newly crowned welterweight champion Tyron Woodley snubbed him for a title shot in the aftermath of knockout win over Robbie Lawler in the main event of Saturday’s UFC 201, he may be starting to believe a different […]

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When questioned by Thompson on the UFC 201 post-fight show, Woodley eschewed with ‘Wonderboy’ in favor of a ‘big money fight’ with the returning Nick Diaz or all-time great former champ Georges St-Pierre, who quickly accepted the fight.

On a seven-fight win streak, he clear top contender spoke up for his case during an appearance on today’s edition of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, describing his shock at Woodley’s insistence to call his own shots minutes after winning the belt:

“In my head I was like, really, you’re kidding me, right, that he wouldn’t give me this shot? Yeah, he went out there, he defeated Robbie Lawler, but you know, he took this fight, and a lot of people didn’t think he deserved it in the first place, but just seconds after winning that title, already choosing his fights? I mean, come on. Who gets that? Who really gets to do that. I mean, you’re starting to see that a lot more. It’s almost like, do the rankings really count? Do they really matter?”

Thompson thinks Woodley should at least defend his title before calling out big names:

“And I was kind of upset for him to say that just because, he knows I’m the No. 1 guy. He knows I’ve been working really hard. You know, I’m on a seven-fight winning streak. But to pick some, I think you have to defend the title at least once before you can start picking your shot.”

Questioned about his belief if Woodley was ducking him, Thompson responded that he would be fighting “The Chosen One” at Madison Square Garden regardless of what the champ wants:

“I don’t know. I don’t think he’s scared of me, but it almost seems like he just doesn’t want to fight me, he just doesn’t want to step in the ring. I don’t know if he thinks it’s a bad match-up, but no matter what, I’m fighting this guy, I’m fighting Tyron. I’m fighting Tyron Woodley, and it’s gonna be at Madison Square Garden; no ifs, ands, or buts, come on guys, come on UFC, and come on Tyron. You gotta give it to me, man.”

If he were not to get the shot, however, ‘Wonderboy’ expressed his trepidation at not getting the next title fight, which is why the normally reserved phenom suddenly became so vocal today:

“No. If they don’t give this to me, then something is really wrong. It is disappointing to hear that, and it does worry me a little bit, but in my head, I’m getting the shot. I don’t care. I gotta put my foot down, man, I gotta tell everybody how I’m feeling, and as of right now, I’m very disappointed that he wouldn’t take it.”

Thompson was willing to give Woodley credit for the huge shot he landed on Lawler, but he also believes that wasn’t the surging version of Lawler we’d grown accustomed to seeing over the past three years:

“I mean, yes he did land that big one punch, but you know, I don’t know man, it wasn’t enough for me. He did land that one punch, but we all know that wasn’t the same Robbie. Just going out there, looking at the fight, that was the Robbie we all expected, and I think he knows that.”

He named several reasons why we may not have seen the true “Ruthless,” but at the end of the day, Thompson insists something was just off with the former champ, and he may not have been motivated:

“There could be a lot of different reasons why we didn’t see the same Robbie Lawler, but it wasn’t him.”

After repeatedly predicting Lawler would win and then move on to throw down in an exciting war with ‘Wonderboy,’ Thompson admitted he was disappointed at not being the one to dethrone “Ruthless.” He gave some more thinly veiled credit before the new champ before telling him to stop calling out aging legends, who, despite being some of the most recognizable names in MMA, hadn’t won a fight in nearly eight years combined:

“Yeah, I was. I was disappointed because he was the guy I wanted to beat. I wanted to be the guy to take him out. But hat’s off to Tyron, he beat me to it. But he is the champ and I am the No. 1 contender, stop calling people out who haven’t fought in a year or three years. Fight the guy who’s ready, man, fight the guy’s who earned it this year, who’s beat the No. 1, beat the No. 2, and take on me, man. That’s what I got to say to him. I just think it’s kinda crap that he won’t take it.”

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Robbie Lawler Says He Got Caught With The ‘Ol’ T-Wood Bomb’

After an improbable three-year run to the UFC welterweight title, longtime veteran Robbie Lawler’s reign at the top came to an end with just one punch when Tyron Woodley floored him to steal the belt in the main event of last night’s (Sat., July 30, 2016) UFC 201 from Philips Arena in Atlanta. Many were quick […]

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Many were quick to point the finger at Lawler’s long list of recent wars against top opposition like Carlos Condit and Rory MacDonald as a sign that his chin was crumbling before Woodley put the finishing touches on it, but speaking at the post-fight press conference (courtesy of MMA Junkie), “Ruthless” didn’t believe that is the case:

The fan favorite slugger wouldn’t look that deep into performance, instead focusing on the simple fact that you just get caught at the highest levels of MMA:

“It’s alright, he caught me with the ol’ T-Wood bomb. I was just sitting back a little too much, and he took advantage of it. It was his night.”

As for what he plans to do next, Lawler said he would relax with his family before having the UFC decide what direction his career would head:

“They’ll kinda decide that, but I’m going to sit back, spend some time with my family, and figure out what I’m doing next. But I’m sure Dana will decide on what’s next.”

Many, including No. 1-ranked UFC welterweight Stephen Thompson had also criticized Lawler for perhaps being too stationary, but Lawler said he made one small mistake and Woodley capitalized on it to the fullest:

“I don’t know if I sat in front of him too much. But I think maybe right at the end, he feinted and I reached with my hands, and he threw a punch over top and took advantage of an opportunity and he did a great job.”

Building on that stance, Lawler wouldn’t make any excuses for his loss. He said he felt great before the fight and again, just got rocked by one huge punch:

“No, I think it’s just a guy who took advantage of a big punch and rocked me and jumped on and finished the job. I’m not going to speculate. I felt great going into the fight, so no excuses.”

There was also the teammate dynamic that was heavily hyped up by the UFC leading up to the bout, but Lawler said that didn’t come into play when asked. “Ruthless” stood fast in his statement that he would have starched Woodley if so presented with the chance:

“No not at all, I’m a mean individual and this is what I dod for a living so I woulda had no problem doing the same to him.”

And even though he said he would let the UFC decide where his career went next, Lawler seemed to change his tune a bit when probed again. With two straight title defense and a legitimate case for being involved in the “Fight of the Year” in the past three years, “Ruthless” finally revealed that he believes he deserves a rematch for the championship:

“Obviously, I think that if I went back in there, I would get a win,” he said. “Deserve and getting are two different things, but yeah, I feel I deserve something. But we’ll see if I get it.”

Based on his recent body of work, it’s hard to argue with the “Ruthless” one there. But with Thompson waiting anxiously for a much-deserved shot and Woodley calling out either the returning Nick Diaz or the rumored-to-be-returning Georges St. Pierre for a big money fight, there could be quite the queue of contenders built up when Lawler returns to the octagon, making another title shot a far-off possibility right now.

No matter what, Lawler still sits high upon the rankings of one of the most talented divisions in all of MMA. If Woodley does fight Thompson next, Lawler could certainly square off with Diaz, as the two have a built-in rematch angle from their historic bout in 2004 where Diaz knocked Lawler out.

If Woodley faces Diaz (or even GSP), Lawler could face Thompson in the bout “Wonderboy” was hoping would be contested for the title after last night.

And in that fight, we could truly find out if there’s any merits to those claiming Lawler’s iron chin is finally starting to fade.

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Stephen Thompson Campaigns For Title Shot: This Is My Division Baby

UFC 201 went down last night (July 30, 2016) live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, and yet another title changed hands in the main event. Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley blitzed Robbie Lawler early on, landing a brutal shot on the “Ruthless” one and ending the fight early to walk […]

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In the aftermath of the fight, Woodley appeared on FOX Sports 1 and was greeted by No. 1-ranked Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, a man who could serve as Woodley’s next opponent. “Wonderboy” took this time to explain to not only “The Chosen One”, but to the world why he deserves a shot at gold:

“He’s won (three) in a row,” Thompson said on UFC 201’s post-fight show. “How many have I won? Seven in a row. I’ve cleaned out the division for this guy. Listen, I’ve got more wins under me in a row than he does, I’ve beat the best, I’ve beat the No. 1 (in Johny Hendricks), I’ve beat the No. 2 (in Rory MacDonald) – not just in a five-round fight; (Hendricks) was in the first round.”

Despite Thompson being the clear cut No. 1 contender, Woodley seemed far more interested in ‘money fights’ with ex-champion Georges St. Pierre and returning fan favorite Nick Diaz. “Wonderboy” didn’t say Woodley was scared, but he did say that he was gunning for the top:

“I’m not going to say he’s scared, because I know he’s not scared,” Thompson said. “He wants that money fight, but I think I’m going to be making more money when I put this foot upside his head. I’m just telling you. It’s going to happen. This is my division, baby. That’s it.”

Who would you like to see get the next crack at the 170-pound throne?

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