UFC champ Tyron Woodley wants to be a UFC Hall of Famer – and knows the path to get there

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley knows the importance a second fight with Stephen Thompson has to his career. He just didn’t think it was necessary to do it right away.

Before Woodley (16-3-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC) was confirmed to rematch Thompson (13-1-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC) in March’s UFC 209 headliner, he was looking at alternative matchups – despite fighting “Wonderboy” to a majority draw in their first meeting back in November at UFC 205.

“The Chosen One” has listed the likes of former UFC champ Georges St-Pierre, current middleweight titleholder Michael Bisping, current lightweight champ Conor McGregor and the likes of Nick and Nate Diaz as preferred opponents.

Woodley said he has good reasons for wanting those fights, and he doesn’t regret pursuing them.

“Certain fights that I think solidify my legacy – obviously fighting ‘Wonderboy’ again, maybe fighting Robbie Lawler again, and fighting one of the Diaz brothers, maybe Conor, maybe Bisping, and definitely Georges St-Pierre,” Woodley told MMAjunkie. “If I can sustain victories over those guys, I’m 100 percent a (UFC) Hall of Famer. I knew the fight against ‘Wonderboy’ would take place; I didn’t know that it was important to necessarily run it immediately right back.”

UFC 209 takes place March 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The Woodley vs. Thompson title rematch headlines the pay-per-view main card following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Woodley, 34, was criticized for not immediately expressing a desire to rematch Thompson, whom he feels he convincingly beat at UFC 205 (despite the judges deciding otherwise). Woodley said he knew a rematch with Thompson was inevitable but did nothing wrong by exploring other options.

“I don’t think it was as close as everyone wanted it to be,” Woodley said. “Everyone was in emotion and in the moment. It was great, and they were on their feet, but at the end of the day, I can look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, I feel like I was victorious in that bout.’ And I can move forward to the next chapter and take on a Demian Maia or whoever they had next for me.”

Despite all the drama, Thompson, No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, got his rematch with No. 1-ranked Woodley.

After studying his performance from the first fight, Woodley said he can create a much clearer avenue to victory than at UFC 205. He said he didn’t execute all aspects of his game plan. However, he said that will ultimately play to his benefit in the second showdown

“Some of the tactics I used in the fight weren’t really part of the game plan,” Woodley said. “The game plan that we had wasn’t really executed. I went out there and fought well. I had great moments in the fight. He had great moments in the fight. There’s things that I planned on doing that I didn’t do, so I can now bring those things into the game plan. I also get to continue to expand upon that performance.”

For more on UFC 209, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.