Champ Tyron Woodley: Stephen Thompson has 'got under my skin so much' ahead of UFC 209 rematch

Stephen Thompson wasn’t the first choice of opponent for Tyron Woodley at UFC 209. However, Thompson’s now the one the reigning UFC welterweight champion wants to fight most.

The rematch of November’s UFC 205 majority draw between champ Woodley (16-3-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC) and challenger Thompson (13-1-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC) is now official for UFC 209, which takes place March 4 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Prior to the announcement of the rematch, Woodley mentioned a number of potential fights that had his interest, including ones with ex-champ/semi-retired Georges St-Pierre, vet Nick Diaz, contender Demian Maia and even UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping. However, Thompson’s push for the rematch apparently paid off.

Thompson pestered Woodley on social media for not signing the bout agreement – right up until the official announcement. The champ admitted that got to him and turned a previously undesired rematch into a second chance to make a statement.

“He got under my skin so much that I’m just going to go ahead and fight the dude,” Woodley said on the newest edition of “The Morning Wood Show” podcast with cohost Din Thomas. “He got under my skin that bad where I don’t even care about the ration and the money and what fight makes the most sense. You need to be careful what you ask for. ‘Wonderboy,’ if you want it, come get it. You want to fight? You want to get done worse than you did the first time? Some people have got to be real careful.”

Woodley said his frustration with Thompson stems from his attitude. Despite UFC President Dana White saying immediately after UFC 205 that a rematch was the most logical path forward for the 170-pound title, Woodley had expressed annoyance with Thompson’s “entitled” attitude when it comes to getting a second fight.

In “The Chosen One’s” opinion, Thompson’s best claim for the UFC 205 fight result was a draw. Meanwhile, Woodley said the fight was only a tie at the absolute worst and that he arguably deserved the win (according to MMADecisions.com, most media outlets scored it for Woodley or had it a draw). That’s just one reason the champ didn’t see an immediate rematch as necessary.

“What ever happened to the phrase, ‘You have to beat the champion’? Is that a lost art?” Woodley said. “Can you go in there and make it close with the champion and walk around as if you’ve beat the champion? I’m just not cool with the way the fight was promoted, as if I was the challenger. I don’t like that the challenger thinks he can call the shots.”

“Two rounds were completely lopsided, and three rounds outside of that were very close,” he continued. “He never dominated a single round of that fight. So now if you can tell me I did not win either Round 2, Round 3 or Round 5, then I would agree he deserves a rematch. But I do believe I won Round 3. I do believe Round 1 or 4 would be a 10-8. Then on a third category, some people would have stopped that fight. There are three ways I could have won that fight.”

Woodley said he’s not going to forget about his success in the first encounter, though, and he said it’s in Thompson’s best interest he doesn’t forget either.

“He’s going to get in that octagon, and he’s going to be in for a rude awakening because if he thought that was something the last time, I’m going all the way up,” Woodley said. “I want him to tremble when I walk past him and him have a flashback of when I knocked him to the canvas and he woke up and the referee was counting ‘A-B-C, 1-2-3’ with him. I’m just tired of these guys that just feel entitled.”

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