Issue 147
November 2016
The spotlight is on Tyron Woodley and he plans on making it pay off
Tyron Woodley
UFC Welterweight champion
Alias: The Chosen One
Age: 34
Team: ATT / Roufusport
Record: 16-3
No athlete has more to gain from the UFC’s new owners than Tyron Woodley. A true triple-threat – he can fight in the cage, act in movies and inform as an analyst – the new 170lb champion is one of MMA’s most versatile athletes.
UFC fighters branching out into showbusiness is nothing new. But now its owner – William Morris Endeavor (WME) – is one the of the most influential and powerful agencies in Hollywood, we’ve likely experienced just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the potential to sell MMA’s real-life superheroes across an array of entertainment platforms. And Woodley can sense the opportunity.
“As I’ve shown so far, being cast in movies is nothing new to me. But I do hope the new owners are going to help with that process even more,” says Woodley, who captured the 170lb title with a blitzkrieg KO of ATT teammate Robbie Lawler in July. “I’ve actually already signed up to do another three movies already, but it would be nice to get bigger roles for sure.”
Last year, Woodley featured in Straight Outta Compton, the Kickboxer remake, Going Under with Bruce Willis and big budget Bollywood movie Sultan. And right now he’s on set filming the latest Marvel flick, Spider-Man: Homecoming.
But Woodley fans who fear losing their new champ to the silver screen for good can sleep easy. After all, it took him a long time to get his shot at the UFC championship. Now it’s around his waist he’s planning on cashing in on the 12lb of gold.
“The movies are great and something I definitely enjoy. But I’m a competitor first and foremost and that’s what drives me. The acting, it’s more of a hobby really,” says the 34-year-old. “I make 10 times more fighting than what I do working a day at a time in movies.
“Even though I’ve been on set perhaps more than I’ve been in the cage over the past 18 months, I’ve always managed to keep my eyes on the prize. I hadn’t reached my goal. I was still in the hunt. Still chasing that world title. The acting stuff and feature roles are great, but my focus is always on my fighting career.
“The new owners – well, they may have different ideas in terms of how to best maximize my earnings and if they say movies then I’m down for that. But my reign has only just begun and I intend to keep hold of the welterweight belt for a while yet.”
Woodley splits his training camps between American Top Team and Roufusport under the watchful eye of former fighter Din Thomas. They have become a formidable training partnership, proving a fighter doesn’t need to be based out of one camp only to forge a championship-winning career.
Woodley gushes about the impact Thomas has had on his career. “We’ve been working together now since 2006. I was the first person of this level to have him with them. I was the first guy who he evaluated as an athlete and who he really started making game plans for in fights,” Woodley reveals.
“Of course, he’s now got his own company – mmascoutingreport.com – where he uses his experience and knowledge in MMA to analyze and break down opponents’ styles and mannerisms to work out ways to win. The entire American Top Team crew – like, 70 fighters – they all utilize his gifts now.”
Woodley has made no excuses for calling out Georges St Pierre and Nick Diaz since his title reign began. After all, he insists, those are the money fights at 170lb. But he’s come in for some criticism from fans and family members of one or two other members of the welterweight division’s top 10 – chiefly Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson and his father Ray.
Even UFC president Dana White called for Woodley to face Wonderboy next. Yet the champion isn’t too sure that’s the fight he or the fans want. He adds: “The biggest fights out there for both myself and the welterweight division are against GSP and Nick Diaz. Those are the money fights and the reason they’re the money fights is because those are the fights the fans want to pay to see.
“Wonderboy’s a good fighter and a strong contender. But he’s not a well-known fighter and he’s not going to sell pay-per-views. Listen, the sport is changing. Just because you are the number-one contender, that don’t mean you’ll get the next shot right away. Believe me, I know. It’s about timing and right now, I just don’t think that’s the best fight for me or the belt.”
For now, actor Tom Holland – cast as the latest incarnation of Spider-Man – will get the first crack at beating up Woodley, albeit in movie theaters. Meanwhile, MMA waits with baited breath to see who will be the first man to step into the Octagon and challenge ‘The Chosen One’.
McGregor fatigue
No 170lb title chance
After avenging his defeat to Nate Diaz at UFC 202, Conor McGregor insists he’ll take his time before he settles in on his next opponent. Most of the UFC roster from 145-170lb is itching for the chance to win the Irish lottery, but Woodley laughs off talk of McGregor challenging for his title.
Woodley admits he was a McGregor fan, but he’s starting to tire of him. “I like his business mind – I respect that. I like the way he’s been able to sell fights, but he’s starting to get high off his own medicine now,” Woodley says.
“Up at 170lb, there are guys of much greater abilities. There’s a different mindset and I don’t see him beating anybody in the top five of the division. I don’t see him jumping up and immediately fighting for the title. He’s started to get on my nerves, I’m not even going to lie.
“I like him. I like what he’s doing and what he’s done for the sport, But now he’s starting to get a little bit too vain. He’s a little bit too cocky, a little but too much of everything. I’ve got McGregor fatigue at the moment.”
Woodley brood
The biggest inspiration
Tyron Woodley insists Robbie Lawler stood little chance at UFC 201 as he’d made a promise to himself to show his children how hard work will always pay off.
The new champ says his wife, three sons and daughter have had to watch him limp through the door from training, soak his aching muscles in the pool and struggle to eat his food due to his efforts in the gym. But he knew there was a lesson there for his children.
“The first thing I did when I got home with the belt is take it to my kids’ bedroom and we sat down and discussed how all that hard work I’d put in, how this was the reward,” he says. “My children know that you get handed nothing in life. They know I worked my butt off for that belt and so they appreciated it as much as I did.
“They can be proud of what daddy has achieved because they watched me every step of the way. I’ve taught them if you want anything in life you can achieve it through hard work and dedication. Winning the UFC belt proved that to them.”
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