Tyron Woodley not willing to fight at UFC London
Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is itching to return to the Octagon, but only seems to do so in the United States. During a recent live media stream Woodley spoke on the rumors that he could face welterweight challenger Leon Edwards at UFC London which is scheduled for March.
Woodley emphatically turned down the idea of fighting in London, stating that as the former five-time welterweight champion, he doesn’t feel the need to go overseas and fight. Woodley has not fought inside the Octagon since losing his title to Kamaru Usman at UFC 236 in March and has been recovering from injuries since that fight.
“I’m ready to fight soon, man. They want me to fight in London, f**k that, I’m not going all the way to London to fight. I’m the five-time world champion, I’m gonna fight f**king here. January 18th, January 25th, February 8th, I wanna fight in the States. I don’t wanna go out of the country and fight. When I go out of the country, I wanna be on vacation.” (Transcibed via BJPenn)
As the new champion Kamaru Usman prepares for his first title defense against bitter rival Colby Covington at UFC 245 this weekend, Woodley also took aim at the other top contenders in the division. Woodley has had his issues with Covington in the past, as “Chaos” is known for getting under the skin of other fighters, but “The Chosen One” says his focus is getting back the welterweight title.
“I’m starving to get the strap and watching all this press conference s**t is so corny and so tacky, man. They’re making the belt look dumb so I gotta get back in there. Everybody thinks it’s something until they get in that pocket. They complain and they wanted me to be a champion in a different way, but I was a champion my way. Now you guys understand that it’s different. It’s different when you’re in the pocket. So much demand, so much sh*t you gotta do.”
Tyron Woodley doesn’t seem against the idea of fighting Leon Edwards, it’s just about the location for Woodley. Edwards who is currently on an eight-fight winning streak with notable wins over Donald Cerrone, Rafael dos Anjos, and Gunnar Nelson, trains out of the UK which is why he’s called for the fight against Woodley to happen overseas.
Video of Woodley’s comments can be found below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGFkeoVE78s
