Woodley responds to RDA callout
Tyron Woodley: “One or two more fights in the division, with a great performance like he had this evening, we will see him on the other side of the Octagon.”
After crushing Neil Magny at UFC 215 on Saturday night, former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos made a coherent case for a title shot vs. Tyron Woodley. UFC president Dana White has indicated Robbie Lawler could be next in line, but it isn’t set, and Woodley is recovering from a shoulder injury, which dovetails with RDA’s desire to take a little time off.
This division’s wide open; all the top-five, top-six guys in this division have lost to the champion or to the last challenger, which was Demian Maia, he said, as transcribed by Mike Bohn and Ken Hathaway for MMAjunkie. “Thompson lost twice to Woodley already. I’m the new blood in this division. I was getting ready to fight Woodley if Maia didn’t take the fight, but he ended up taking the fight.
RDA also vowed that he’d make the Woodley fight exciting.
One thing I can be sure, is we’re going to fight,” he said. “I’m not going to let him walk around, and I’m going to make sure I push the pace. I’m not saying I will not use my strategy. Of course I will. But I will walk forward. I have confidence in me, in my cardio, and I’m going to make him work.
Woodley, however, has other plans.
I didn’t take it personally, said Woodley during the UFC 215 post-event show on FS1, as transcribed for MMAjunkie. All I’m saying is there are a lot of guys in my division. They always put them in front of me, and everyone thinks they have the solution to beat me. But I think I’m the most well-rounded fighter. I punch the hardest in the UFC of all the fighters. And he’s a great fighter. He’s a former world champion. I do think one or two more fights in the division, with a great performance like he had this evening, we will see him on the other side of the Octagon. At that point, we’ll be ready to role.
I’ve got a Gucci belt you can have. I’ve got a Louis Vuitton belt you can have, but the welterweight gold, the 14 pounds, brother – it’s going to be a long time before I give that up.
Woodley is aiming for a fight at 185, vs. the winner of division champion Michael Bisping vs. a returning Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217 on November 4, 2017 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York.
I want to fight at middleweight, he said. So, I’m thinking about taking a trip up to middleweight.
