Woodley to receive next title shot, if all goes well
“I’m counting this as a loss for him. You got to make the weight. I’m sitting here at weight, wired, ready to wage war and now I’m not going to get that opportunity.”
UFC welterweight Tyron Woodley is a consummate professional.
Unfortunately, not all his opponents are.
In his last fight, at UFC 183, Kelvin Gastelum came in a bizarre 9 pounds over the 171-pound weight limit for a non-title fight. Woodley took the fight anyway, and earned a split-decision win.
This time it was Johny Hendricks who let his opponent, and the fans, and the sport down.
“I’m frustrated, obviously,” said Woodley to Ariel Helwani for MMAFighting.com. “I’m always trying to look for the lesson in things and positive signs. I believe things happen for a reason.
“I’m counting this as a loss for him. You got to make the weight. I’m sitting here at weight, wired, ready to wage war and now I’m not going to get that opportunity.
“Hopefully, I’m compensated accordingly because this shouldn’t be a strike against me. It’s almost as if I lost if I just get show money. I could have been knocked out in the first minute and just get show money. I hope and pray I am taken care of because I had a lot of plans for that win money.
“And I shouldn’t have to fight anyone else, do anything else spectacular … nothing . I should be next for the title shot now. It’s called professional mixed martial arts for a reason. There should be some level of professionalism involved.”
Unlike Hendricks, the UFC has reacted professionally – Yahoo Sports’ authoritative Kevin Iole reports that Woodley will get the next welterweight title shot, vs. the winner of champion Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit at UFC 195 on January 2, 2016 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Kevin Iole @KevinI
Just spoke with @danawhite and he said @TWooodley will get the title shot next, fighting Lawler-Condit winner. My post will be live soon.
White clarified the remarks.
“He’s next in line, but there a lot of different variables involved,” said White as transcribed by MMA Fighting. “Robbie and Condit are fighting already on Jan. 2 in Las Vegas. What if one of them gets hurt after the fight? There’s a lot of different timing variables. [Woodley] hasn’t fought in a long time. He’s got to fight, he’s got to make money. He’s next in line, but there’s a lot of variables to get into that title.”