Former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley believes his body of work should justify an immediate rematch with the new champion Kamaru Usman. “That was my fifth title defense,” Woodley said during the post-fight press conference. “I feel like, as a champion, and what I’ve done in this organization, that the performance may not have vouched for […]
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Former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley believes his body of work should justify an immediate rematch with the new champion Kamaru Usman.
“That was my fifth title defense,” Woodley said during the post-fight press conference. “I feel like, as a champion, and what I’ve done in this organization, that the performance may not have vouched for a rematch, but I think my resume does.”
Woodley is hoping that the UFC sees things his way and issues him an immediate rematch with Usman. However, he is not making any excuses as to why he was thoroughly outclassed by the new champ.
“I can give you a million excuses on Earth, but I can tell you right now that I was prepared. I was ready. Even in the warm-up, I felt extremely sharp. But sometimes you just have those fights where you go out and it’s like a bad-ass dream. You want to punch hard, but you don’t punch. You want to move forward, but you’re stepping back.
“I had too many moments in there. Kamaru, he came out there and won. I still believe I’m the greatest welterweight of all time, so now my path is getting back and getting that belt.”
You can add stand up guy to the list of adjectives to describe “T-Wood”. “The Chosen One” was careful not to take away from Usman’s performance, saying “He came out there and delivered,” several times during the presser.
Still, Woodley admitted he wasn’t himself.
“It was an uncharacteristic fight of me,” Woodley said. “I kind of knew early on. Sometimes, when I start a fight, if I come out blazing, I come out with combinations, I kind of get in that rhythm and I stay in that rhythm. This time, it was just something real weird. He was just dropping down and squatting all low and it’s almost like I was hypnotized. Like, ‘I know you’re about to shoot, I’m trying to time when you do it so I can hit you with this uppercut.’
“And I think I got to the point when I was kind of waiting for him to shoot. And, in fighting, you wait too long, you might get the shot, but you also might get some right hands. You might get a kick, you might get something else. And then just really never got in a rhythm.”
Bouncing back from a loss is nothing new to Woodley. He does have three others on his record. As he learned long ago, his path is his path, whether he agrees with it or not.
“This is my path,” Woodley said. “I don’t like the path, I was in the locker room, confused as hell. ‘How could this happen? I was so ready, so prepared.’ But my path has never been easy. It’s just showing me that God wants me to come back, bounce back and show you guys the champion that I am. Dust this off and get that belt back.”
And while it looks like Colby Covington is going to get the first crack at the new 170-pound king, Woodley makes a strong argument.
“I think, like I said before, as a champion that’s took out Robbie Lawler, who’s ‘Fight of the Year’ twice, defended his belt four times, I feel like a rematch – Colby’s kind of been sitting around. Sitting around, calling the shots. But if that’s what the organization wants to do, it’s their organization. I’m blessed to be able to fight here, make a living and prove that I’m the best in the world.”
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