Tag: Tyron Woodley vs. Demian Maia

UFC Contender Claims To Have ‘Dirt That Would Ruin Tyron Woodley’s Life’

It looks like the dirt-slinging contest between UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and his boss Dana White has a new player – or something. Yesterday, Woodley went off on White to demand a public apology after the UFC head man blasted his UFC 214 win over Demian Maia, a bout during which he tore his labrum. […]

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It looks like the dirt-slinging contest between UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and his boss Dana White has a new player – or something.

Yesterday, Woodley went off on White to demand a public apology after the UFC head man blasted his UFC 214 win over Demian Maia, a bout during which he tore his labrum. Woodley believed that White should promote his fighters rather than demote them, so if he did not receive the apology he desired, he threatened to go public with some ‘dirt’ on the polarizing exec.

Apparently, however, Woodley has some of his own skeletons in his closet; at least if we’re to believe rising welterweight contender Colby Covington, who tweeted out a message to White telling him not to worry because he had a secret bad enough to ‘ruin Woodley’s life’:

Quietly on a four-fight winning streak with the most recent a decision over longtime contender Dong Hyun Kim at June’s UFC Fight Night 111, No. 8 Covington has been working overtime to get his name out there and get a big fight in the Octagon.

That includes repeatedly dragging Woodley’s name through the mud with statements that he ‘broke him in half’ when the two trained at American Top Team (ATT) and calling out former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in a strange video posted online. Based on his recent effort to make a name for himself, it’s no surprise to see him pop up to take advantage of this situation.

Of course, Woodley is the fight everyone wants in the welterweight division, but Covington clearly has a lot of work to do in order to get a title fight in the deep 170-pound fray. Social media outbursts like this may help him jump the line, yet it’s hard to imagine “The Chosen One” signing on the dotted line to face ‘Chaos’ if he ‘ruined his life’ with the supposed dirt.

Stay tuned for the next turn in this strange tale.

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Tyron Woodley Goes Off On Dana White In Threatening Rant

Dana White made it incredibly clear that he wasn’t a fan of Tyron Woodley’s recent performances when he ripped into the UFC welterweight champion in the moments directly after his safe, boo-inducing win over Demian Maia in the co-main event of last Saturday’s (July 29, 2017) UFC 214 from Anaheim, Calif. And not only did he […]

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Dana White made it incredibly clear that he wasn’t a fan of Tyron Woodley’s recent performances when he ripped into the UFC welterweight champion in the moments directly after his safe, boo-inducing win over Demian Maia in the co-main event of last Saturday’s (July 29, 2017) UFC 214 from Anaheim, Calif.

And not only did he publicly call out his champion, but he was so mad he even took the promised Georges St-Pierre fight from “The Chosen One” and gave it “back” to Michael Bisping.

Coupled with his lackluster win over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in the main event of March’s UFC 209, Woodley was beginning to have a reputation as a once-feared knockout artist who now played it safe in order to keep his belt. Sharing the fans’ opinion of the 170-pound ruler, White even proclaimed fans didn’t want to see him fight anymore:

“You ask fans if they want to see Woodley fight again, I think that will be a flat out no.”

But Woodley was quick to respond during an appearance on The MMA Hour today, asking White for some fair promotion before revealing that he had seriously injured his shoulder and how it affected his shots:

“I don’t care so much about the fans, but when your job title is promoter, promote your f*cking fighters. Promote your champion. Don’t demote your champion. I threw my shoulder out in the first round, I wasn’t able to throw any damaging shots — for you guys who don’t understand what a labrum tear is, go get on Google or Wikipedia and figure it out — and I still stayed the course, I stayed on path, I stayed on point, I executed the gameplan. I had to reduce all of my shots from overhands, uppercuts, things that were hurting my shoulder, to straight punches.”

Gary A. Vasquez – USA TODAY Sports

A torn labrum is no injury to scoff at, especially for a power puncher known for his big, looping shots. Woodley will be out for a significant amount of time after defeating Maia, and in that absence he wants White to make it right. So he took things to an all-new level from there, threatening to out White for some skeletons in his closet if he did not get the public apology he so desired:

“So, sorry in advance, I’m mad because I’ve had this surgery before. It’s not a fun one. It’s not a quick recovery. It’s not something that I’m excited about. I’m going to get a couple second opinions. Literally I’m in the Uber right now, I just f*cking got out of the doctors office, like right this second. There’s paperwork in my hand. So I’m just, I’m owed a public apology. You’re going to publicly scrutinize me, Dana White? You publicly need to apologize to me.

“I’ve done nothing but good stuff for the sport. I’ve done nothing but be a good model for the f*cking organization. I go out there and I fight with integrity. I covered your sport from the FOX desk a week before my fight. I always uphold my responsibilities to the organization. It’s timeout for that. The word behind ‘business’ is ‘man.’ You need to be a man, you owe me a public apology. And if I don’t get that, I’m going to start leaking some sh*t that people don’t want to be out in the wind. I’m not even kidding about that.”

While many a fighter has certainly expressed public disdain with White in the past, no one has quite gone so far as to demand their own apology from him, and they certainly haven’t done so with the threat of outing some sort of secret leaks that Woodley has hidden in his back pocket.

Asked to expand on just what the dirt was, Woodley said his target knew what he was talking about:

“They know what I’m referring to. I’m due a public apology,” he said. “I better get it.”

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Tyron Woodley: Georges St-Pierre Should Have To Fight Me

He may have put on arguably the two most boring title fights in UFC welterweight title history with a record-setting snoozer over Demian Maia in the UFC 214 and a painfully slow defense against Stephen Thompson at UFC 209, but Tyron Woodley still believes his body of work has earned him a lofty position in […]

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He may have put on arguably the two most boring title fights in UFC welterweight title history with a record-setting snoozer over Demian Maia in the UFC 214 and a painfully slow defense against Stephen Thompson at UFC 209, but Tyron Woodley still believes his body of work has earned him a lofty position in MMA history.

Woodley was thoroughly blasted by his boss Dana White after he successfully defended all 21 of Maia’s takedown attempts in a bout that set the record for least significant strikes in a title bout, so much so that the emotional exec actually took Woodley’s promised title bout with returning all-time great Georges St-Pierre off the table, giving the fight to Michael Bisping.

“The Chosen One” understandably wasn’t happy about it, and spoke out against White’s decision at the UFC post-fight press conference (via MMA Fighting) by declaring St-Pierre should actually have to fight him to be considered the best welterweight ever:

“[St-Pierre] should have to fight me. If you are the best welterweight of all time, you’re gonna come back into the sport and go up a weight class? I guarantee you if Demian Maia would have won, he would have been talking about fighting Demian Maia. I guarantee if Stephen Thompson would have won, he’d have been looking to fight Stephen Thompson. He doesn’t want to fight me because I’m a better version of him.”

Gary A. Vasquez for USA TODAY Sports

St-Pierre will move up a weight class to middleweight to fight champion Bisping, who has caused a sea of controversy since winning the belt by only defending it against a retiring Dan Henderson before going to the sidelines with knee surgery as the many top contenders in the division were methodically eliminated by Robert Whittaker, who conveniently hurt his own knee beating Yoel Romero. That’s made the 185-pound division a mess, and Woodley took note of it before correctly pointing out he was the only champion consistently defending the title against top contenders:

“When was the last time Michael Bisping fought? Think about it. I fought four world title fights against actual No. 1 contenders. Has he ever fought a No. 1 contender? I fought the No. 1 contender twice. I fought the No. 1 contender after that. And I fought the world champion who was Robbie Lawler at the time before that. I’m the only one that’s going by the old set of rules. So if it’s not Georges St-Pierre, let him run. But guess what? Whoever you put in front of me, I’m gonna run through them, I’m gonna beat them, and if he does not fight me, by default I will be the best welterweight of all-time.”

Woodley Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale for USA TODAY Sports

Woodley may have a strong argument from some certain points of view, yet it’s difficult to say he would become the greatest fighter of all-time in a storied division, especially over a time-honored legend like St-Pierre, without actually fighting him if he’s indeed active. However, it’s just not a fight that is going to be made until Woodley proves he can deliver exciting bouts each and every time out to the cage, not every third or fourth time.

That’s the only way he’s going to gain a reputation as a draw, and that, in turn, is the only way he might eventually get to fight St-Pierre.

But one thing Woodley is correct about is the mess the middleweight division has become. The welterweight champ went off about Bisping’s injury and why it was strange to have St-Pierre jump the entire ranks in a class he had never once competed in before:

“The clarity should just be Georges. I don’t understand, you have an interim title right? Robert Whittaker just beat Yoel Romero. . . He deserves to fight Bisping next. How long is Bisping going to milk this knee injury? Is his knee severed or what the hell is going on? He should be fighting the No. 1 contenders like I’ve had to do.”

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Five Huge Fights To Make After UFC 214

Heading into last night (July 29, 2017), UFC 214 was being billed as the biggest mixed martial arts card of the year, and it certainly lived up to the expectations that had been set for it. In the main event of the evening, Jon Jones made a triumphant return to action to reclaim the light […]

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Heading into last night (July 29, 2017), UFC 214 was being billed as the biggest mixed martial arts card of the year, and it certainly lived up to the expectations that had been set for it.

In the main event of the evening, Jon Jones made a triumphant return to action to reclaim the light heavyweight title he had never technically lost with a brutal third-round stoppage victory over bitter rival Daniel Cormier.

The co-main event of the evening featured a welterweight title fight between champion Tyron Woodley and jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia, and while the fans weren’t all too pleased with the bout, Woodley retained his title via unanimous decision. Also on the main card, Cris Cyborg stopped Tonya Evinger in the third round of their featherweight title fight.

With the event now in the rearview mirror, let’s take a look ahead at five fights to make after UFC 214:

Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson II

Prior to his rematch with Cormier, Jones had only competed once over the last two-and-a-half years due to a plethora of legal and personal issues. It now appears as if those issues are behind him, however, and with the victory over Cormier, Jones can once again trek forward as the UFC light heavyweight champion.

While “Bones” has come dangerously close to cleaning out the 205-pound division, he does indeed still have some unfinished business with No. 2-ranked Alexander Gustafsson, and there’s no better time than now to book the rematch between the two.

Jones and Gustafsson first met at UFC 165 in Sept. 2013 and the bout turned out to be the very best light heavyweight title fight in UFC history. “The Mauler” pushed Jones to his limits, and some still feel as if Gustafsson should’ve been named the victor.

Gustafsson has scored back-to-back victories over Jan Blachowicz and Glover Teixeira, and in the shallow light heavyweight division, he is undoubtedly the rightful No. 1-contender.

It’s time to settle the score.

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Tyron Woodley Says He Injured Shoulder In Second Round Of UFC 214 Fight

In the co-main event of last night’s (July 29, 2017) UFC 214 from Anaheim, California, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley successfully defended his 170-pound title for the third consecutive time with a unanimous decision victory over the previously surging Demian Maia. While Woodley clearly won the fight, his performance didn’t do much to impress the fans, […]

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In the co-main event of last night’s (July 29, 2017) UFC 214 from Anaheim, California, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley successfully defended his 170-pound title for the third consecutive time with a unanimous decision victory over the previously surging Demian Maia.

While Woodley clearly won the fight, his performance didn’t do much to impress the fans, nor did it do much to impress UFC President Dana White, who criticized the fight and Woodley after the event.

Due to Maia’s decorated jiu-jitsu background, Woodley obviously wanted to keep the fight off of the canvas, and he continuously shrugged off Maia’s takedown attempts. On the feet, Woodley landed some big shots, although some felt as if he could’ve used his power and explosiveness to put the Brazilian away earlier.

Either way, Woodley discussed his performance with Megan Olivi after the fight, saying that he ‘liked the performance’. He also said that he hurt his shoulder in the second round, which limited the use of his patented right hand strike.

Check out the full interview below:

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Dana White Rips Into Woodley, Takes Away Georges St-Pierre Fight

Dana White has pulled the old bait-and-switch on us yet again. Only days after saying that returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre would meet the winner of the welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and Demain Maia in the co-main event of last night’s UFC 214 after GSP’s rumored fight with Michael Bisping was a […]

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Dana White has pulled the old bait-and-switch on us yet again.

Only days after saying that returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre would meet the winner of the welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and Demain Maia in the co-main event of last night’s UFC 214 after GSP’s rumored fight with Michael Bisping was a ‘ship that had sailed,’ White laid into Woodley vs. Maia at the post-fight press conference after the bout failed to deliver in any way:

“What’d you think about watching the Woodley Maia fight? Listen, when you break a record for most for the leat punches in a five-round fight, a title fight, and you beat it by, it was 130 and these guys threw 60 or something like that, I think that sums it up.”

White was then asked if St-Pierre vs. Bisping was back on due to the lackluster nature of Woodley’s performance, to which the outspoken executive replied it was indeed was before explaining why:

“Yep. Yep. There you go. Because I know Michael Bisping will fight. Michael Bisping will show up and he will fight, so I’m gonna give it to him.”

Photo: Joe Camporeale – USA TODAY Sports

Now, it’s fair to say that the long-tenured “Count,” who’s no doubt as reliable as any fighter in UFC history, isn’t exactly known for putting on the most earth-shattering performances in the octagon, as many online have perhaps given him a reputation for having no knockout power at all.

But with his recent finish of Luke Rockhold to win the belt at 2016’s UFC 199 coupled with his close, exciting victories over Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson, it’s hard to argue that Bisping is not exciting and willing to bring the action to his opponents. St-Pierre has obviously garnered his own reputation for being a safe, calculating fighter – perhaps more so than any other competitor in MMA after his upset loss to Matt Serra.

Taking that into account, a bout pitting a safe fighter like ‘GSP’ against Woodley, a champion with all the well-rounded skills in the world who simply appears to refuse to use them at times, has correctly been deemed a fight that would not be entertaining to the fans. Of course, interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker should be getting the next rightful shot at the UFC 185-pound belt, but a knee injury suffered in his impressive decision victory over Yoel Romero at UFC 213 will keep him out of action until 2018.

White said Whittaker would fight the winner of Bisping vs. St-Pierre, but he did not yet have a date for the bout, which was revealed at a press conference prior to UFC 209 this March, an event where Woodley ironically put on another highly tentative performance versus Stephen Thompson.

Photo by Joe Camporeale for USA TODAY Sports

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