Money fights? UFC champ Tyron Woodley just wants fights that'll 'cement my legacy'

Tyron Woodley has insisted on getting an elusive “money fight” for quite some time now.

During the last year, Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre and Nate Diaz are names the UFC welterweight champion has tossed around. UFC President Dana White has shot down each mention, leading to some beef between the two. Some fans have rolled their eyes at the notion that Woodley (18-3-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC) believes he’s deserving of such a high-profile matchup – or, “money fight,” if you will.

Woodley, though, sees things in a different light.

“I just want to fight the fights that are going to cement my legacy,” he said backstage at UFC Fight Night 124 in his native St. Louis.

That seems reasonable enough for a champion who’s repeated his desire to prove he’s the greatest 170-pounder ever. In his mind, the two contenders mentioned most as worthy of challenging him – Rafael dos Anjos and Colby Covington – don’t excite Woodley. But that’s who’s right behind him at No. 2 and 3, respectively, in the official UFC rankings.

Which, speaking of rankings, it’s funny to Woodley, 35, how they apply to some but not others – like himself.

“It depends on who it is. It’s a situation-based usage of the rankings,” Woodley said. “I think the ranking is a good thing where you can kind of see (who fought who). But that’s not the rubric anymore. They’re not really going by that. At times it’s convenient. Usually when it’s me it’s convenient to utilize the rankings.”

White has indicated Woodley’s next challenger will be former lightweight champion Dos Anjos (28-9 MMA, 17-7 UFC), who has won three straight since moving up to the division, most recently a dominant decision over ex-champ Robbie Lawler, who Woodley beat for the title in July 2016.

But what about Covington (13-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC), who just can’t seem to stop talking and tweeting about “Tyrone” Woodley? There have been rumors that the two could coach on the upcoming season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which Woodley says he isn’t down with.

“Definitely not coaching with that buffoon,” he said.

Woodley and Covington used to train together, and “The Chosen One” can’t believe “Chaos,” whose called attention to himself in some ugly ways, is even in the conversation.

“I’ve silence him his entire life. I got a whole phone full of text messages – I’m his big brother, his mentor,” Woodley said. “He just decided to take the WWE route, because he thought that was going to catipult him.”

“He came in at a great time when the sport was quiet,” Woodley added. “Conor McGregor’s (been) out doing something different, Jon Jones is out for a while, Ronda Rousey’s not there. You know, he came in at a time when people were like, ‘You know what? There’s nothing going on, eff it. Let’s listen to this idiot.’ …

“I just don’t want to give him a lot of attention, a lot of talk.”

Regardless of who he fights next, though, one thing is for sure: Woodley doesn’t see anyone – “money fight” or not – being able to take his title anytime soon.

“I’ve been blessed at the way I train and the way I think about fighting,” Woodley said. “I’ve thought about being in this position long before I got here. There are no new guys faster than me, stronger than me, more skilled than me. Even though these guys are coming up, I still have two or three things that I do better than they do. So I’ll be able to be champion for a very long time.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.