Tyron Woodley has been waiting for his shot at the title for a quite a while. And until last week, Woodley looked as if his chance was perhaps coming sooner than later. But with Stephen Thompson starching of Johny Hendricks in under one round, it appears that Tyron Woodley’s wait may have gotten longer.
After putting together some impressive wins over Dong Hyun Kim and Kelvin Gastelum, Woodley was put into a bout against Johny Hendricks at UFC 192, with which it was speculated that a win would have him earn the status of number one contender for the Welterweight title.
Unfortunately, the former champion Hendricks had to pull out of the fight at the last minute with a devastating weight cut gone wrong, causing kidney problems. As such, Woodley was given status as number one contender. Since then though, that status has only been repeatedly challenged.
After Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson’s win, it looks like that status might be hanging by a thread. Something that he’s not best pleased about.
“I had to get off my Twitter,” Woodley said on his podcast Morning Wood. “People telling me, ‘You haven’t fought for a year. [Thompson] went out there and beat the No. 1 guy.’ OK, why didn’t I beat the No. 1 guy? His lack of commitment to the sport and that bout [at UFC 192]. I’m starting to think he was scared to fight. I never believed that, but the fact that he didn’t even make it to the scale, it forfeited my opportunity to have a performance like that, to do what I’ve trained to do.
“Should I be penalized for that? I’ve been the only guy that’s been professional, making weight, going out there and fighting, taking short notice fights, doing favors for the UFC. Because he fights the person I was supposed to fight he should jump over me? That’s a joke. That’s kind of comical.”
Woodley felt that despite Thompson’s impressive showing, he hasn’t done enough to jump over Woodley to get the title shot. Instead, Woodley thinks that Thompson should take one more fight against top tier contender before the UFC start thinking about handing out any more shots for Robbie Lawler’s belt.
“He went out and got his damn name out there Saturday night when he roughed-up Johny,” Woodley said. “He didn’t earn a title shot, but he put himself in position. I feel like he should fight one more fight, maybe against Rory MacDonald, maybe Carlos Condit. Another long striker so we can see how he does with a striker who can deal with that. Then he’s ready to roll.”
It’s not just Thompson who Woodley shared his skepticism for. Hendricks tactics, his weight cut and his mindset all came under fire.
“[Hendricks] was so worried about the weight,” Woodley said. “He wanted to shut up all the naysayers. I think the focus should have been more on the game plan, on preparing him for that style of a matchup. I guarantee you he didn’t bring in the right training partners to prepare him for that unorthodox style. He didn’t take him lightly like Jake Ellenberger did. He didn’t have the proper preparation. He was weighing 174 pounds on Tuesday. That’s stupid. Your body has no nutrition. You basically held your body for a week because you wanted to prove to everybody that you can make weight.
“The first round, [Hendricks] looked terrible. He looked like he was done. He looked like it was the sixth round. We’ve seen Johny take some hard punches. He can take a punch. This guy got hit with a back kick that hit his arm and shoulder, not even the face. His brain was dehydrated which made it easier for him to be concussed. It was sad to watch, to be honest.”
One has to feel for Woodley. He’s been an entertaining Welterweight, and had an impressive showing against Carlos Condit. What’s unfortunate for him, and what we tend to see time and time again in this sport, is that waiting for your chance often doesn’t pay off. Woodley clearly foresees a call from the UFC in the upcoming future, but with Condit and Lawler recently engaging in a five round war earning calls for a rematch, and with Thompson’s stock rising so high by destroying Hendricks, it’s very possible Woodley may find that his wait (should he choose to continue) isn’t over yet.
https://soundcloud.com/morningwoodshow/ep-17-woodley-reacts-to-thompson
