Why Tyron Woodley wants ex-UFC champ Johny Hendricks next: Fish-hooking, biting claim

Tyron Woodley

Tyron Woodley wants a fight with former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks, and he’s been wanting it for the past decade.

According to Woodley (15-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC), the bad blood developed in 2005 in a Big 12 conference wrestling tournament final, where Hendricks (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) “fish hooked me with three fingers and said I bit him,” which led to a costly point deduction.

Hendricks, representing Oklahoma State, won the 165-pound match over the University of Missouri’s Woodley. Hendricks later added an NCAA Division I national title to his Big 12 championship while Woodley settled for a Big 12 runner-up finish and All-American honors.

As Woodley recently wrote on Instagram, “I’ve been wanting to punch him ever since”:

In the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, where current titleholder Robbie Lawler sits No. 1, Hendricks is No. 2 – a few spots ahead of No. 4 Woodley.

Hendricks, though, believes he’s the No. 1 contender and should get the next title shot after Rory MacDonald (18-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) meets Lawler (25-10 MMA, 10-4 UFC) at UFC 189 on July 11.

Lawler, of course, outpointed Hendricks this past December at UFC 181 in a rematch of their first meeting at UFC 171, which ended with Hendricks winning a decision to claim the welterweight title left vacant by longtime champ Georges St-Pierre. With a recent decision victory over Matt Brown at UFC 185, though, Hendricks thinks he deserves another shot at the belt:

But like Woodley, who rebounded from a decision loss to MacDonald with recent wins over Dong Hyun Kim and Kelvin Gastelum, Hendricks is on the sidelines and awaiting his next assignment.

If he gets his wish, though, Woodley could find himself in a title eliminator with an ex-champ.

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