Woodley Sees Daley’s Weaknesses, Plans to Finish Him

He had a strange feeling, though, that he’d be fighting sooner and so he started training. Sure enough, when Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos dropped out of his July 30 Strikeforce bout against Paul Daley, Woodley got the call.

“Get ready, get ready, you’re going to fight,” Woodley (Pictured) said he had kept telling himself. “Even though everything was showing opposite, I just listened to that voice inside my head. Started pushing the pace, started doing a lot of strength and conditioning, a lot of boxing, just pushing the envelope. Then when they asked me, it was a no-brainer. Within one hour of the request, there was something sent back from my agent saying, ‘We’re in. Let’s do it.’”

A two-time All-American wrestler at the University of Missouri, the undefeated Woodley is coming off a unanimous decision over Tarec Saffiedine in January. It was impressive how he neutralized a quality opponent, but Woodley did take some criticism for a less than thrilling performance.

“I have no intentions on riding this fight out,” Woodley said of his plans for Daley during an interview on the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. “I’m just going to be flat-out honest. But with that said, I also don’t have any intentions on standing in front of Paul Daley and saying, ‘You know what? Let’s do this. I’m going to prove to everybody that I’m not scared to throw with you. I’m just going to sit here and throw.’ I think that’s stupid.”

Daley would love it, though. He’s been outspoken about his desire for bouts against fighters who will stand and trade with him.

“Of course Daley wants to fight ‘Cyborg’ and [Nick] Diaz -- guys that are going to stand with him and bang, but guess what? This isn’t kickboxing,” Woodley said. “This isn’t muay Thai. … This is MMA. I’m a complete fighter and I feel like the two-thirds of the game that he’s avoided and neglected, I’m going to open up those and expose those.”

That means Daley will likely have to call on his takedown defense if he wants to strike with Woodley.

“He’s going to be so tired from me pulling on him, picking him up, slamming him on his head, dropping elbows across his face,” Woodley said. “If we make it to the later rounds, he won’t even look like the striker he was in the first round. I’m just going to go out with my game plan. I’m going to win this fight. I’m going to do it in great fashion. I think the fans will appreciate it.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 40:25).