Woodley: GSP wants no part of the concussion I’d give him
“He doesn’t seem to be extremely thrilled to get in there with somebody that can punch him to the point of getting dropped and suffering a concussion — an ugly, grueling fight.”
The greatest welterweight in UFC history, Georges St-Pierre, is finally cleared to return to MMA. Rather than a title shot, the Canadian appears intent on money fights and has spoken about challenging middleweight champion Michael Bisping, lightweight champion Conor McGregor, and UFC G.O.A.T. Anderson Silva.
Woodley appeared recently on ESPN‘s 5ounds podcast and talked about it. The focus on money fights over bracket fights is one Woodley shares; rather than call outs, he spoke in fact statements.
“Let’s not get it twisted, part of the reason he left the sport was concussions,” said Woodley to Brett Okamoto. “He doesn’t seem to be extremely thrilled to get in there with somebody that can punch him to the point of getting dropped and suffering a concussion — an ugly, grueling fight.
“I’m a guy who makes that fight for him. I have the highest takedown defense in the entire welterweight division, maybe the second-highest on the UFC roster. It’s going to be very hard for him to take me down and keep me down.”
“I think they want to see how this fight plays out. If ‘Wonderboy’ comes up with a victory, I think we’ll see him try to fight ‘Wonderboy.’ [Thompson] has a crazy style and he has knocked guys out, but how many times has he stood in the pocket and just thrown heavy leather [and] let them damn UFC gloves fly and knock somebody out? Never.”
“Bisping knows he’s not the best middleweight. He’s just a guy who is tough, seized his moment and became the champion of the world. There’s nothing bad about that, but those are way better options for [St-Pierre] than fighting somebody like me, who has been looking at him for many years, is a better wrestler, punches harder and has been more active in the last three years.”
“It’s funny, Conor McGregor can talk about fighting Georges. Nate [Diaz] can talk about fighting Georges. Nick [Diaz] can talk about fighting Georges. Bisping can talk about fighting Georges. I talk about fighting Georges, the whole world goes, ‘Oh, he’s running. He’s picking opponents. What about Demian Maia? Take care of business and defend your title this many times and then you deserve it.’ How many title defenses did Bisping have before he picked Dan Henderson and fought him in his hometown?”
Tyron Woodley defends his title in a rematch vs. Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson at UFC 209 on Saturday.