The Georgia Athletic Commission released the UFC 201 salaries on Monday, and the UFC had to pay some of the top tier fighters who took part in the event some big money. The main event was a welterweight title fight between Robbie Lawler ($500,000) and Tyron Woodley ($340,000) while the co-main event was Rose Namajunas […]
The Georgia Athletic Commission released the UFC 201 salaries on Monday, and the UFC had to pay some of the top tier fighters who took part in the event some big money.
The main event was a welterweight title fight between Robbie Lawler ($500,000) and Tyron Woodley ($340,000) while the co-main event was Rose Namajunas ($46,000) vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz ($38,000). Rounding out the main card was Matt Brown ($73,000) vs. Jake Ellenberger ($150,000), Francisco Rivera ($23,000) vs. Erik Perez ($48,000), and Ryan Benoit ($26,000) vs. Fredy Serrano ($12,000).
UFC 201 took place on Saturday, July 30th, 2016 at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. The UFC Fight Pass prelims started at 7PM/3:30PM ET PT while the FS2 prelims started at 8PM/5PM ET PT and the main card started at 10PM/7PM ET PT.
Nick Diaz is now cleared to return to MMA after serving a suspension handed down from the Nevada Athletic Commission.
And he already has a potential fight lined up.
New UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley called out Diaz for August 20 and UFC…
Nick Diaz is now cleared to return to MMA after serving a suspension handed down from the Nevada Athletic Commission.
And he already has a potential fight lined up.
New UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley called out Diaz for August 20 and UFC 202, and the former title contender is more than willing to meet him – under a certain guideline.
“If they make me an offer I can’t refuse,” Diaz told TMZ. “But I doubt that’s going to happen. I’m over here, look at me right now – I don’t need nothing. I don’t owe nobody nothing. I don’t owe anybody (expletive). I haven’t been fanatical about fighting since I was 15 or 14, since I was eight years ago.
“Once I turned pro, I was like OK, this is not fun and games now. This is me. I’m going to come and I work on karma. I’m not going to go after somebody if I don’t have a reason behind it, so as soon as there is some sort of a reason for me to do something that I need to do, then I’ll do it. Nobody’s done what I’ve done in this sh*t. It just hasn’t happened yet.”
Diaz, who is now 32 years old, is a former Strikeforce champion. His last official win, though, came in 2011 when he scored a decision over BJ Penn.
Nate Diaz, Nick’s brother, is set to headline UFC 202 in Las Vegas vs. Conor McGregor.
Despite suffering a loss and losing the UFC welterweight title, Robbie Lawler walked out of UFC 201 with a hefty paycheck.
Lawler led all fighters in terms of salaries with $500,000, according to numbers released by the Georgia Athletic and Entertai…
Despite suffering a loss and losing the UFC welterweight title, Robbie Lawler walked out of UFC 201 with a hefty paycheck.
Lawler led all fighters in terms of salaries with $500,000, according to numbers released by the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission as provided to MMAjunkie.
Tyron Woodley, who finished Lawler to win the title, picked up $340,000.
A new face graces the top of the UFC welterweight mountain, and his name is Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley. Woodley got his long-awaited shot at UFC gold Saturday night (July 30, 2016), when he took on reigning 170-pound king ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC 201. Woodley didn’t waste any time […]
A new face graces the top of the UFC welterweight mountain, and his name is Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley.
Woodley got his long-awaited shot at UFC gold Saturday night (July 30, 2016), when he took on reigning 170-pound king ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC 201. Woodley didn’t waste any time to cash in on his self-proclaimed destiny, as he starched Lawler with a vicious overhand right to secure his first career UFC title.
Now coming fresh off his jaw-dropping victory, Woodley spoke on The MMA Hour today (August 1, 2016), to claim that his monstrous accomplishment has not yet sunk in, as well as detailing his long journey to the UFC welterweight throne.
When asked if he knew Lawler was finished after the devastating overhand right landed flush on ‘Ruthless” chin, Woodley claimed he knew all along he was going to land it sooner or later:
“Man I knew it. I knew it and I knew it was gonna land, I’m not gonna say I knew I was gonna knock him out with that particular punch, but I knew I was gonna land that punch.
“I was prepared, I was ready, and there was nothing that led me to believe that it was not my time.”
Woodley is wasting no time to use his newfound championship fame to hit the big screen, as ‘The Chosen One’ revealed his is currently in the works for five potential films including the filming of a Marvel film on Thursday in Atlanta:
“I’ve already committed to three movies in the last three days, and I have two others that I might not be able to do. So that’s five potential films I could still be working on. I’m working on a Marvel movie on Thursday in Atlanta.”
Its no secret now that Woodley is looking to cash in on his championship opportunities by calling out 170-pound great Georges St-Pierre and the always-entertaining Nick Diaz for potential bouts.
Woodley wants to solidify himself as one of, if not the, greatest welterweights of all time, and who better to do that against than two future Hall of Famers?
“I want to say I’m the best in the world. As of right now I’m the UFC welterweight champion of the world. People can say I’m the best in the world, but I’ve never 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, I feel like his other brother is cashing in on the big payday, but I also feel like Nick Diaz has brought enough attention to the sport raising up eyebrows, putting enough butts in the seats to sell pay-per-view buys.
“Well, maybe he kind of deserves, since we’re using this word deserves so much, maybe he deserves to cash out. And that’s why I made the suggestion cause UFC 202 is three weeks away, I’m in great shape, and I know he’s training with his brother getting him ready for this fight.”
“Secondly, Georges St-Pierre is the best of all time. I can say ‘I’m better that Georges’, but I have not competed against him to 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 number one 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, and after that I would like to fight Nick Diaz as well.”
The new welterweight champ believes that, shortly following his victory over Lawler, UFC President Dana White was already getting calls from St-Pierre and Diaz’s management to begin talks for a potential match between the new face at 170 pounds:
“I think they were already getting calls. I think Dana kept on looking at me and smiling and saying ‘We’ll talk soon, we’ll talk soon, I’ll call you on the phone.’
“I think Georges and Nick, before I even stated it showed interest. I’m pretty sure Nick’s managers had already started hitting Dana up about fighting.”
When asked if he will be able to make a potential meeting between Diaz or St-Pierre at the upcoming blockbuster card in New York due to his film commitments, Woodley was adamant that it will not interfere with his Octagon career, as opposed to former women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey:
“For sure. I’m not doing what Ronda is doing, I’m not doing like a super long six-month stretch. I got two weeks on this movie, I got three days on another movie, I’m not going to be on these long stretches so I’ll be fine. I’m not going to let myself get out of shape man, I didn’t get punched one time on Saturday.”
With such a dominant win over one of the most decorated welterweight to step into the Octagon, Woodley is looking for an upgrade when it comes to his current UFC contract, and believes he will get it if he is awarded a fight against the likes of St-Pierre:
“I believe so. I can’t imagine that someone could go out there, and put on that kind of performance against a guy who was the fighter of the year, who probably had the Fight of the Year this year with Carlos.
“The Fight of the Year last year with Rory, it’s funny that Robbie say he didn’t get the respect. I think he was given the proper respect, I think he had to tell himself that to keep the chip off his shoulder.
“Just in general it was weird hearing him say that, and he’s a very very highly regarded, very loved fighter of the UFC. And for me to completely destroy him like that man, I would expect a nice contract, change, and some different incentives in there, especially leading into the GSP fight.”
While it looks like current No. 1-ranked Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson will have to wait for a shot at welterweight gold, that is, if Woodley has anything to say about it, it’s looking more and more like a colossal showdown between Woodley and returning box office attractions St-Pierre and Diaz is becoming the route UFC brass wants to go down.
One of MMA’s most polarizing figures is a free man as of today (August 1, 2016) and ready to make his return to the Octagon. Former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz has been out of action since suffering a defeat that was later changed to a no-contest against all-time great Anderson “The Spider” Silva in January […]
One of MMA’s most polarizing figures is a free man as of today (August 1, 2016) and ready to make his return to the Octagon. Former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz has been out of action since suffering a defeat that was later changed to a no-contest against all-time great Anderson “The Spider” Silva in January 2015. After the bout it was revealed that “The Stockton Bad Boy” had once again tested positive for Marijuana, leading the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to hand him a ludicrous five year suspension.
It’s safe to say that MMA world went crazy backing Diaz, and his suspension was later changed to an 18-month ban dating back to January 2015. Since Diaz has last competed, the sport and the UFC has changed quite a bit, but one thing that hasn’t changed is Diaz’s star power, and it could even be argued that his popularity has since increased. In fact, he recently told TMZ Sports that he’s ‘on top’ and he’d like to fight the best guy in his highly-anticipated return.
One fight that could be potentially looming on the horizon is a welterweight title fight with newly-minted champ Tyron Woodley, who knocked out Robbie Lawler this past weekend (July 30, 2016) to steal the gold. After his win, Woodley called out Diaz for a battle in just a few weeks at August 20’s UFC 202, an event headlined by Nick’s brother Nate Diaz and Conor McGregor. Regarding that scenario, Diaz said that he’ll need an offer ‘he can’t refuse’, adding that he doesn’t owe anything to anyone.
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 […]
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 approach is necessary.
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.”
When asked if he knew Lawler was finished after the devastating overhand right landed flush on ‘Ruthless” chin, Woodley claimed he knew all along he was going to land it sooner or later:
“I want to say I’m the best in the world. As of right now I’m the UFC welterweight champion of the world. People can say I’m the best in the world, but I’ve never fought Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz is not a retired fighter. 
When asked if he will be able to make a potential meeting between Diaz or St-Pierre at the upcoming blockbuster card in New York due to his film commitments, Woodley was adamant that it will not interfere with his Octagon career, as opposed to former women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey:
