Tyron Woodley wants to move to middleweight this year
“Wipe out the division clean, welterweight, and go up there and either beat ‘Fatsum’ up again or take out Robert Whittaker.”
UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley appeared recently on the Ariel Helwani MMA Show, and made a startling statement – he may move to middleweight this year.
People at middleweight, they need to watch out too,” said Woodley, as transcribed by Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting. “I might slide on one of y’all by the end of the year.
Why not? What better year? Wipe out the division clean, welterweight, and go up there and either beat ‘Fatsum’ up again or take out Robert Whittaker. They’re both welterweights anyway, they just don’t know how to cut weight.
At the end of the day, what is the fight for?. Do you want me to fight more? I want to fight more. Do you want me to become this superstar? I am a superstar. I just need the push it, I need the machine to get behind me a little bit more, and from the conversations I had, I believe that’s going to happen this year. Whooping up Usman, whooping up Colby, and then finishing out with one more fight at the end of the year, I think that’s gonna be a great year for me. It’ll be the first time I’m up for Fighter of the Year, so that’s what I’m excited about.
The idea has merit. Kelvin Gastelum challenges Robert Whittaker for his middleweight title at UFC 234. Kelvin Gastelum won TUF 17 at middleweight, and immediately dropped to welterweight. And Whittaker won TUF: The Smashes at welterweight. Whittaker’s last loss was to Stephen Thompson, who has a draw with and a loss to Woodley. So there’s a good back story.
And middleweight might finally give Woodley the breakthrough fight he has sought but failed to secure vs. Conor McGregor, GSP, both Diaz brothers, and Michael Bisping