UFC fighter Tyron Woodley responds to Robbie Lawler's taunts
Sports Court: Tyron 'The Chosen One' Woodley discusses upcoming UFC 201 and responds to Robbie Lawler's statement that Woodley 'isn't my teammate'
Tyron Woodley reached the height of his mixed-martial arts fighting career when he was crowned as the UFC's Welterweight Champion in 2016. For nearly three years, Woodley successfully defended his title on four occasions. His overall fighting record stands at nineteen wins and seven losses.
Woodley won the welterweight championship during UFC 201 against the former champ Robbie Lawler on July 30, 2016, via knockout in the first round. He won to defend the title against fighters such as Stephen Thompson, Demian Maia, and Darren Till. However, in 2019 Woodley lost the title in the co-main event at UFC 235 against Kamaru Usman. During the match, Usman dominated Woodley, who lost by a unanimous decision.
"I went into a state of depression for a while," Woodley told reporters while reflecting on his defeat years later. "I really wasn’t talking to many people, I was eating terrible, I wasn’t training, and I just really didn’t expect – I felt like all my competition before Kamaru Usman was my stiffest competition."
"I felt like my strategy, my gameplan, my studying, my coaches, my team, I felt like I had everything in position to win. So I really had to deal with that, and it took longer than any other fight in my career."
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Tyron Woodley is a former UFC Welterweight Champion and recently started a new career in boxing after fighting YouTube sensation Jake Paul. (Getty Images)
Why did he leave the UFC?
In April 2021, it was announced that Woodley would no longer appear on the UFC roster after eight years of competing with the promotion. The fighter was reportedly not cut by the UFC but had fought out his most recent contract and was not re-signed. "The Chosen One" is now a free agent.
His contract with the UFC came to an end weeks after his loss to Vincente Luque at UFC 260 in March 2021. At that point, Woodley had been defeated in four consecutive fights.
Months later, Woodley competed in his fight boxing fight against YouTube sensation turned boxing star, Jake Paul. The fight took place on August 2021 and the former UFC fighter lost by split decision.
How did he lose against Jake Paul in his second fight?
After British boxer Tommy Fury dropped out of his December 2021 fight with Paul, Woodley took his spot. Woodley lost the fight in the sixth round by a brutal knockout from Paul that left the former UFC champion unconscious in the ring. Even before the knockout, Woodley was trailing Paul in the match regarding the number of punches the fighters had landed on each other.
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Video of the knockout from the pay-per-view event went viral on social media and concluded the Paul-Woodley fighting saga.
Will he fight again?
Woodley does not currently have any fights planned for the near future, either in mixed-martial arts or boxing. During a video interview with MMA junkie in February, "The Chosen one" mentioned he wants to compete in another boxing or UFC fight this year. However, given he lost twice to Paul, it is unlikely the pair will face each other again in the near future.