UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley didn’t want to address Georges St-Pierre until after he had successfully defended his title against Demian Maia, but he had plenty to say following his win on Saturday night.
Woodley was supposed to welcome St-Pierre back to the Octagon later this year, but UFC president Dana White yanked the fight out from under him and decided to give the former champion the bout he originally wanted against Michael Bisping instead.
White ultimately punished Woodley for his performance where he stuffed 24 out of 24 takedown attempts from Maia during the fight, but just didn’t put the Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert away during the five round fight.
Woodley was understandably upset considering St-Pierre would not only provide him with a fight that could earn him a lot of money, but it’s the matchup to allow him the opportunity to prove he’s the greatest welterweight of all time.
“[St-Pierre] should have to fight me,” Woodley said at the UFC 214 post fight press conference. “If you are the best welterweight of all time, you’re gonna come back into the sport and go up a weight class? I guarantee you if Demian Maia would have won, he would have been talking about fighting Demian Maia. I guarantee if Stephen Thompson would have won, he’d have been looking to fight Stephen Thompson.
“He doesn’t want to fight me because I’m a better version of him.”
Since winning the welterweight title last year in a knockout against Robbie Lawler, Woodley has asked for the opportunity to compete in several different super fights against Bisping, St-Pierre or even Nick Diaz but instead he’s only faced the top contenders at 170 pounds.
Woodley has now defeated both Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Demian Maia, who had won a combined 14 fights in a row, before facing him with the title on the line.
Woodley can’t help but wonder how the current middleweight champion has avoided a similar fate after fighting Dan Henderson last year and then drawing St-Pierre in a matchup that’s likely going to take place in November.
“When was the last time Michael Bisping fought? Think about it. I fought four world title fights against actual No. 1 contenders. Has he ever fought a No. 1 contender?” Woodley said. “I fought the No. 1 contender twice. I fought the No. 1 contender after that. And I fought the world champion who was Robbie Lawler at the time before that. I’m the only one that’s going by the old set of rules.
“So if it’s not Georges St-Pierre, let him run. But guess what? Whoever you put in front of me, I’m gonna run through them, I’m gonna beat them, and if he does not fight me, by default I will be the best welterweight of all-time.”
St-Pierre hasn’t had much to say since his fight with Bisping was announced over the weekend but it’s likely he’s happy to receive the matchup he always wanted in the first place.
Meanwhile, Woodley will go back to the drawing board with White hinting that his next fight could be a rematch with former champion Robbie Lawler later this year.
