Despite losing, Tyron Woodley is at peace.
Woodley (19-5-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC), a former UFC champion, came out on the losing end of a five-round unanimous decision to Gilbert Burns in the UFC on ESPN 9 main event.
Despite suffering back-to-back defeats for the first time in his professional MMA career, Woodley was calm when describing the loss in an Instagram post on Sunday.
“I felt good,” Woodley said. “I have no excuses. I felt good. I train hard. I was in great shape. I felt like I did everything right. Everything felt good from the walkout to the stretch, to every single thing about the fight. I looked him in the eyes yesterday and knew he was going to be ready to fight. I thought that was good. He did a good job of keeping the distance (and) not coming at the shots. I felt like I was reaching. I don’t have no excuses, man. I’m going to hold my head high.”
On more than one occasion in his post-fight video statement, Woodley referenced there were times in the fight where he felt like giving up. Remembering the recent protests as a result of the death of George Floyd was motivation, Woodley said.
“A lot of (expletives) would let somebody finish them off in that moment,” Woodley said. “I wasn’t going to (expletive) give up. I was just thinking about everybody right now who’s protesting and fighting for something good for Mr. Floyd’s family I’m like, ‘I just can’t give up in here.’ I never really gave up hope that I was going to win the fight, to be honest.”
Overall, Woodley indicated he’s accepted the loss for what it is. Although he doesn’t understand why he lost, Woodley said he’s put his faith in God.
“I just wanted to come and face you guys because I don’t understand,” Woodley said. “It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. It’s not very clear. I just know I’ve got to trust God. I’ve got a weird peace for somebody who just got their ass whooped. I don’t know why I am at peace – not with losing, not with defeating, not with losing to Gilbert.
“Gilbert came out and did his thing. At the end of the day, it wasn’t a situation like the Usman fight where I didn’t feel like I was there. I was there. I was present. I was responding. I heard what my coaches were saying. I just couldn’t get my hands on him. I can take that. I can take a loss when I feel like I was present in my mind and body.”
UFC on ESPN 9 took place Saturday at UFC Apex. The main card and prelims simulcasted on ESPN and ESPN+.
Check out Tyron Woodley’s full post-fight response below:
