Woodley: Wrestling just a weapon vs. Condit
“I don’t have to take another shot for the rest of my life if I don’t want to. I have good enough hands… to strike with anybody in our division.”
Two-time NCAA Div I All-American wrestler Tyrone Woodley fights Carlos Condit Saturday night at UFC 171, live on PPV. Condit’s takedown defense rate is the fourth worst among current UFC fighters, so he will in all likelihood be spending time on his back. But Woodley does not intend to reply on his wrestling.
I think his takedown defense is a flaw, said Woodley to MMAJunkie. But I can’t think, ‘OK, I’m a wrestler, so let’s just take him down every round and I’ll win.’ I think that’s a stupid way of going into the fight thinking.
I put myself in a position where I made wrestling an option for me. I don’t have to wrestle. I don’t have to take another shot for the rest of my life if I don’t want to. I have good enough hands, good enough boxing, good enough timing to strike with anybody in our division.
You can’t get too excited about your own medicine. I remember watching Rashad Evans, who sometimes I look up to as a mentor and a big brother, and he fought Machida and forgot his wrestling. He left it at home because he had some big knockouts and big wins.
The true game of mixed martial arts is putting your wrestling in there, putting your striking in there, but also being deceiving, hiding behind your punches if you’re wrestling, and hide behind your wrestling if you’re punching. It’s just a matter of blending it all together.
For me it’s just being wiser, finding my opportunities and really fighting a smart high. I’m going to out there and put on an amazing show.
