Woodley: I am not fighting Usman if Till fails to make weight
Tyron Woodley: “I’m not going to fight you on under 24-hour notice. I’ve been training for a 6-foot-3 striker, southpaw. Not a 5-foot-10 wrestler. Negative.”
Darren Till missed weight his last fight, but got a title shot anyway, vs. welterweight champ Tyron Woodley at UFC 228. The last fight to miss and get a title shot was Yoel Romero, and he missed weight for the title fight too.
The UFC has a plan in case Till misses. Kamaru Usman has been training to fight Woodley, and will weigh in. However, during a recent appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, the champ said there is a “zero percent chance” Usman fights for the title.
“Me and Usman will fight at some point in time,” said Woodley to Greg Rosenstein for ESPN. “But I’m not going to fight you on under 24-hour notice. I’ve been training for a 6-foot-3 striker, southpaw. Not a 5-foot-10 wrestler. Negative.
“I’m a world champion. I deserve proper notice. I deserve proper time to prepare and train for a world title I’ve worked so hard for. If he wants to fight me, it’s going to be a full training camp. I’ll gladly take that if offered.”
“I’m chasing greatness. If he doesn’t make weight, he takes away for me the opportunity to add a fourth title defense on my résumé. Whether he’s 176 or 170 on the dot, he’s still going to get that ass-whopping.”