Over the past few years, Tyron Woodley has had a rough go of things inside the cage. After losing his UFC welterweight title to Kamaru Usman in 2019, Woodley has since dropped another three fights in a row, failing to win a single round and raising serious questions among fans about his future in fighting. Fortunately for Woodley, he knows just what will get him back on track: knocking out a YouTuber in a high-profile boxing match.
Later this summer, Woodley will face former Disney Channel star turned boxer Jake Paul in a grudge match fight that was set up when Paul knocked out Woodley’s longtime friend and training partner Ben Askren earlier this year. The fight figures to be one of the more successful pay-per-views of the year and Woodley says that for him it’s a chance to make everyone forget about his string of bad performances.
“This is a new chapter for me,” Woodley told Michael Bisping on the Believe You Me podcast. “You know how this sport works, when you knock a motherf*cker out, you go to the next level and you really start to get on a roll, nobody’s gonna remember those fights. To be honest, all those fights during the pandemic, all the fights during the APEX, no crowd, that’s gonna all become an exhibition in our life. That’s not gonna be remembered like the UFC 205s or the big U2 arena fights. The fans made it. The fans made it what it was, so for me, I think what people are going to see is a continuation of what they saw against (Vicente) Luque but without me getting caught. The pressure, the dominance. He’s back.”
This is not the first time Woodley has said he’s “back to his old self”. Woodley has asserted something similar after each of his previous four losses, yet a win to break up the losing streak remains elusive. However, each of those losses came against a top-five welterweight, whereas Paul, though he has certainly shown some aptitude for boxing, is a far cry from world-class MMA fighters like Kamaru Usman. That difference, Woodley says, is going to reveal itself early, leading to a knockout in the first half of the fight.
“I think three,” Woodley said. “First round sounds cocky, sounds dope, but I just know that if I’m fighting Tyron Woodley, everyone is going to tell him to cover up, weather the storm, clinch him, grab him, keep him away from you, stay at distance, watch out for the right hand. I’ve got to set a couple traps so I may need a round or two to set some traps, see what he responds to and I think third round I should be able to clean up the deal.”
Though the fight is still months away, the general consensus appears to be that a finish is in store either way. Woodley is one of the biggest hitters in MMA welterweight history and Paul has thus far shown to have substantial power of his own. That’s a big difference for Paul though who has thus far not fought someone who presented a real threat to knock him out and even Paul seems to realize that, asking for an automatic rematch clause during contract negotiations with Woodley. Of course, “The Chosen One” was only too happy to oblige to that stipulation as his plan is to knockout Paul and then do it again for twice the money. And then, if Jake Paul’s older brother Logan wants to get involved, Woodley would be happy to keep the money train rolling.
“At the end of the day, he’s gonna get beat up, he’s gonna get knocked out,” Woodley said. “Hopefully it’s not too bad because what’s happening is, his people are gassing him up that he can win. He accepted this fight and I was very surprised he accepted this fight. They’re gassing him up and they’re giving him that ‘You’ve got the power. He’s old. He ain’t won a fight a million years. You the younger, more hungry, he’s taking you lightly, you can beat him!’ They’re lying to this kid and they’re gonna get him f*cked up. So what’s gonna happen is, I’m gonna beat him, I’m gonna knock him out, and hopefully it’s not too bad where he doesn’t want to do it again because I want to take the money again. I want to rob the bank twice. So that’s the plan.
“I really don’t have smoke with his brother Logan but sh*t, after he sees what I do to his brother he might want to get the hands too.”
Woodley and Paul are set to face each other on Aug. 28 in Miami, Fla.
