Tyron Woodley Says GSP & Conor McGregor Are Ducking Him
After vacating the UFC middleweight title late last year shortly after winning it with an impressive third-round submission of Michael Bisping at November 2017’s UFC 217 in New York City, Georges St. Pierre’s fighting future is currently unclear.
If he does want to continue fighting, he could drop back down to welterweight and attempt to reclaim the title he never technically lost. Current 170-pound champion Tyron Woodley, however, says that St. Pierre has had the chances to make the fight happen and that he simply doesn’t want to fight him:
“Georges could have possibly fought me right after Demian Maia did,” Woodley said last week at an event via MMAFighting.com. “Georges could have fought me before Demian Maia. Georges could have fought me after Michael Bisping. Georges does not want to fight me. And I don’t blame him. I wouldn’t want to fight me if I was him, either. He’s already done what he needs to do in the sport. He’s already captured two different titles in two different divisions. He’s made a fortune in mixed martial arts. He has nothing to prove.
“Does it make a lot of sense for him to come in and take on a very challenging, very hard-punching, fast, explosive guy who just so happens to have the best takedown defense in the history of our sport? Maybe not. I’m just that guy right now. I’m on the top and he’s had his time and I don’t think he wants to fight me.”
In fact, Woodley believes that St. Pierre will try to set up a super fight with lightweight champion Conor McGregor:
“I think Conor is the fight that’ll bring him out,” Woodley said. “A smaller opponent. One hard punch, straight left that he can predict and get ready for. The takedowns are gonna be there all day for him. So I think a Conor McGregor fight is gonna provide a f*cking fortune when it comes down to money. I think that’s the fight that he’s gonna try to do.”
Recently, Woodley said that he too would welcome a fight with the Irishman, but at the end of the day, he doesn’t expect St. Pierre or McGregor to agree to fight him:
“I think Conor would come back to fight Nate [Diaz] or Georges,” Woodley said. “I think Georges would come back to fight Conor. Outside of that … I don’t think Conor wants to fight me, I don’t think Georges wants to fight me. Once again, the same thing I’m saying about the guys in my division. They don’t want to help bring me up. They know if they fight me, it’s a big risk, there’s a chance I’m gonna beat them.
“And then I’m gonna burst into stardom beating either one of those guys. I can’t force them to fight, but I would love to fight versus Conor or Georges St-Pierre, my No. 1 choice right now.”
Woodley, who most recently defended his title against Demian Maia last July, underwent shoulder surgery a few weeks ago. He’s expected to return to action sometime this spring or summer.
