UFC Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has made it painfully obvious that he wants to fight Nate Diaz on Dec. 30 at UFC 219.
On Monday at The MMA Hour, Woodley was questioned on why the fight has not come to fruition.
“I don’t know. He (Diaz) said there wasn’t enough time. He said I was a welterweight, he’s a lightweight, even though he’s fought at welterweight before and he fought Conor (McGregor) at ‘welterweight.’ It sounds like a lot of excuses to me, but you know what, I’m not going to call out a man. Maybe there wasn’t enough money on the table. I can’t go on record because I don’t know for 100-percent sure, but I believe part of them trying to go back to him and ask him about the fight again, they would have to go with more money. Because if you call and ask him with the same money, the same date, the same opponent, and you don’t have more money, then you’re basically just asking him again and he’s already said no. So hopefully they offer him a crap-load of money and we get the fight done.”
For now, Woodley said he is preparing for the fight against Diaz at UFC 219 that may not happen. The 35-year-old champion said he worked out Monday and will continue to ready himself for Dec. 30 until he hears news to a different effect.
Woodley suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder during his UFC 214 title defense over Demian Maia, and he sees Nate as the perfect opponent to face with such an injury.
“I consider Nate not the type of grinding grappler, the static strength opponent that would present those problems (for my shoulder) — someone who’s going to be in the clinch, who’s defending takedowns, going for a lot of shots,” Woodley said. “Throwing a lot of power at Nate, I think that’s how you lose to Nate, when you just try to one-punch shot him, because he has a strong chin, as him and his brother have shown time and time again. They’re volume punchers, they’re cardio fighters. They try to do the mental warfare within the Octagon and before the Octagon.”
It doesn’t hurt that Diaz also doubles as one of the most mainstream stars in MMA.
“I’ve been looking for that name, man. This would be the first opponent I get to fight that I get that high-profile fight that actually means something. The Carlos Condit was a high-profile fight, but [he wasn’t] into having huge star-power. Neither was Robbie Lawler. Neither were some of the other guys I fought and beat. But this is a guy who is directly connected to his brother Nick, directly connected to Conor McGregor, so it could really set me up to fight one of those guys afterward.
“It’s a risk and reward. If he would’ve beaten Conor the second time, everybody would’ve been like, ‘Oh my God, but Conor’s [a Featherweight].’ If (Michael) Bisping would’ve beaten Georges St-Pierre, they’d be like, ‘Oh, well he’s really a Welterweight.’ If someone’s going up to the weight, and especially if they competed at that weight before, then where’s the problem? There’s no problem when it’s (T.J.) Dillashaw talking about coming down and fighting Demetrious Johnson. [Nate]’s fought at welterweight before. It’s not like he’s a tiny guy and I’m overpowering him and I’m overwhelming him. I’m just a big welterweight in general.”
Woodley has long desired a so-called ‘money fight.’ And to his credit, he has accepted and won three number-one contender fights in a row, which is more than can be said of most current UFC champions. And he certainly has faith that his next fight will be the payday he desires.
“Until I hear no, I’m not going to stop training. So when they say 24 (hours), I assume 48, maybe a little longer — 48 or 72 hours — because sometimes the Diaz brothers aren’t known to be the greatest negotiators, with returning phone calls and coming to terms on deals. So 24 hours to them could be three days, but this is my job. What, am I going to complain about training? I love training, especially when it’s an opponent that I respect, someone that brings some type of threat to me, gives me that anxiety and makes me pumped up to train.”
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