Tyron Woodley Hopes Carlos Condit Comes Back Soon

The UFC welterweight division has undergone massive change since Georges St-Pierre left the throne. That was back in 2013, and since that time we’ve seen three champions at 170 pounds. First off it was St-Pierre’s old rival Johny Hendricks who claimed the belt against Robbie Lawler. Then ‘Ruthless’ came back with a vengeance to win the belt in their rematch. Lawler would hold the title for 18 months, defending with a TKO over Rory MacDonald at UFC 189, and an extremely narrow decision over Carlos Condit at UFC 195.

Following his much debated victory against ‘The Natural Born Killer,’ Lawler would sit out for six months before taking on Tyron Woodley. When they finally met in the octagon at UFC 201, ‘The Chosen One’ would break the record for fastest ever knockout in a welterweight title fight. Woodley starched Lawler in just over two minutes, and so a new champion was born. Taking just minutes to rock the boat, Woodley seemingly snubbed number one contender Stephen Thompson.

Money Fights

Tyron Woodley claimed he was interested in the money fights of the division-Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz. This angered many fans, and left ‘Wonderboy’ confused and upset. Then came the big announcement yesterday. Woodley would indeed face Thomposon in his first defense, and at UFC 205 in New York no less. Contrary to what many had believed, ‘The Chosen One’ claims he had accepted the fight weeks ago. Speaking during a live Facebook Q & A yesterday, Woodley set the record straight on this whole saga.

“I accepted that fight weeks back. The only reason I couldn’t announce it was because the UFC wanted to wait for the right platform. Some of you guys pushed my buttons on social media, saying I was scared to fight (Thompson), and I came close to revealing it. I had to wait though, and yesterday Dana White told me ‘Go ahead and announce it.’ We are going to be getting down, and it is not going to be a pretty sight for ‘Mr. Wonderboy’ because I feel like he hasn’t taken my skills set seriously. I’m going to prove that, many times, until people get it through their thick skull that I’m the best welterweight in the world. I’m going to call him wonder woman.”

Woodley on Condit

Tyron Woodley was then asked which fighter he respected the most. He declared Carlos Condit, his former opponent, as one of the greatest welterweights ever and one he’s looked up to his whole career:

“The fighter I respect the most; Carlos Condit is a fighter I looked up to for a very long time. He has currently one of the highest finishing rates of all welterweights. When we fought there was a lot of respect, and after we fought too. He has never said ‘I slipped in the octagon,’ or ‘I was injured and that’s why I lost to Tyron.’ He has always said he wanted the opportunity to avenge the loss. Meaning he wanted to earn it back through separate bouts. He was one of the guys that was respecting the fact I wanted to fight Georges St-Pierre. Shout out to Carlos Condit, The Natural Born Killer, I hope we see him back in the octagon soon.”

After Condit’s recent loss to Demian Maia, there’s been speculation on the former WEC champion’s retirement. It’s good to hear Woodley talking up his former opponent, and let’s hope ‘The Natural Born Killer’ does make it back soon.

Here’s the full Q & A video: