Tyron Woodley Warns Conor McGregor To Stay Out Of His Division

It’s no secret UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor loves making history.

McGregor owns the fastest knockout in UFC title fight history with his UFC 194 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo last December, and is attempting to be the first dual-weight champion in the promotion’s history when the 145-pound champ challenges Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight throne in the main event of UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden.

The Irishman attempted this once before as he was scheduled to meet then-lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos in the main event of UFC 196 under the same circumstances, but the Brazilian was forced to pull out of the contest with a broken foot. Nate Diaz would swoop in to save the day and would go on to submit ‘The Notorious One’ in the second round via rear-naked choke, handing McGregor his first loss in his UFC career.

During the lead-up to his scheduled match-up with ‘RDA’, however, McGregor also teased a possible attempt at taking the UFC’s 170-pound title as well, stating he liked his chances against then-champion ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler.

Today the title no longer rests on Lawler’s shoulders, but instead on the man’s who took ‘Ruthless’ out with a vicious overhand right in the first round of their title clash at UFC 201, Tyron Woodley. Woodley recently spoke to Chris Taylor of BJ Penn.com, stating that if McGregor is eying a fight with himself down the line that it wouldn’t be the best decision for his health:

“Well first off I think Conor is a smart individual and he knows that fighting me is not going to be good for his health,” Woodley said. “I just do not really see him wanting that fight. I see him relinquishing his 145-pound belt and then maybe defending his title a few times at lightweight. Maybe he does a super-fight here or there. There has been talks of him fighting Floyd Mayweather in boxing.”

“So he is a smart business guy and so I do not think he is going to want to come up and fight a guy who is going to outsize him,” Woodley said. “Being 170 and fighting 170 is two different things. I walk around at 200. Giving up that 30-pounds. Plus he is not going to have a boxing advantage. He is definitely not going to have a wrestling advantage. He is definitely not going to have a strength advantage. And it would be a lopsided display of power.”

Before any talk of a potential McGregor vs. Woodley welterweight title fight can begin, however, the pair of champions have some big fights ahead of themselves in the near future. Woodley will be making his first career title defense against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson in the co-main event of UFC 205, followed by McGregor and Alvarez closing out the historical show.

UFC 205 goes down live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the Madison Square Garden arena in New York City on November 12, 2016.