Yahoo Sports Tyron Woodley Reveals UFC 209 Title Defense
After fighting Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson to a draw at UFC 205 in November, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley on Monday revealed the next defense of his title.
Woodley, on his “The Morning Wood Show” podcast, revealed that after contemplating several opponents, he would grant Thompson a rematch at UFC 209 on March 4 in Las Vegas.
“I've been trying to see who my next opponent is going to be – either go up and fight (Michael) Bisping or defend my belt, whether it's (Demian) Maia, whether it's Nick Diaz, whether it's a rematch (against Thompson) or whatever. I was kind of torn between opponents. It's great that I'm in a position that so many people want to fight me,” said Woodley.
Immediately after the first fight with Thompson, Woodley was angling for a “big money” fight against the likes of Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz. More recently, he and middleweight champion Michael Bisping posted a video on social media of the two agreeing to fight each other at a catchweight of 180 pounds.
At the end of the day, however, it was an online Twitter war between Woodley and Thompson that swayed the champ into agreeing with a rematch that he feels isn't overly warranted, despite the result being a draw in their original match-up.
Woodley explained that Thompson's argument for a rematch boiled down not to questioning whether Thompson had won the fight, but to whether or not Woodley had won or had it truly been a draw.
TRENDING > Dana White Blasts Meryl Streep’s MMA Slight at Golden Globe Awards
“He got under my skin so much, I'm just gonna go ahead and fight this dude. I don't even care about the ration and the money and the fight that makes the most sense,” Woodley said in confirming the bout.
“March 4, UFC 209 in Las Vegas, Nevada, at what I believe to be the T-Mobile Center, you will see ‘Wonderboy’ get the worst ass-whooping of his life. And hopefully all his fans and all his over-entitlement decease at that moment and we can do a eulogy for it.
“I’m going to commit to taking this dude out in the most embarrassingly worst fashion. I can't allow myself to lose to him… and this overly entitled group of individuals in mixed martial arts.”
