Woodley Disgusted By UFC’s ‘Cornball’ McCopycats

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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion Tyron Woodley — who still insists he’s the greatest 170-pound titleholder of all time — is not interested in the shtick from all the Conor-Come-Latelys who think acting corny is their ticket to the big time.

“Look how corny everybody is,” Woodley told Ariel Helwani (transcribed by Natasha Hooper). “Like Gilbert Burns was just in the elevator, saying what’s up to me. [He was] out of the country, now he’s on the bottom [saying] ‘let’s go blah blah.’ You’re supposed to do that because that’s the model that everybody has portrayed that it’s how you get a fight, it’s how you sell a fight. What you guys don’t realize is you look fucking dumb, you look stupid. You’re doing what other people want you to do. I do what I want to do.”

Woodley (19-4-1) has long complained about his fellow 170-pound contenders, referring to them as “welterwhiners” because of their constant bellyaching. But “The Chosen One” is planning to outlast the cornball gimmicks by just being himself.

“Our sport’s seen Chael Sonnen first, then they’ve seen Conor McGregor, then Colby Covington created this whole act,” Woodley continued. “Conor McGregor was wearing suits, let me wear a suit. This guy was talking trash, let me talk trash. This guy has a gimmick, let me get a gimmick. It’s so terrible that grown ass men and women can’t just be themselves these days, they gotta be what they think someone wants them to be. I was here before the rise of all the cornballs and I’m gonna be here afterwards.”

Woodley, who turns 38 in less than a month, was supposed to fight Leon Edwards at UFC London this weekend but had to return to the sidelines when coronavirus put an end to the next three UFC events (more on that here).

And when he returns, there’s no guarantee he’ll fight “Rocky.”