UFC champ Tyron Woodley is really running with this backpack idea

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has apparently begun his preparations for an anticipated bout with contender Demian Maia.

And he’s not ditching that backpack comparison.

Maia (25-6 MMA, 19-6 UFC) secured his shot against Woodley (17-3-1 MMA, 7-2-1 UFC) this past Saturday at UFC 211, where the Brazilian picked up a split-decision win over Jorge Masvidal (32-12 MMA, 9-5 UFC) on the pay-per-view main card at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Champ Woodley, who’s No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA welterweight rankings, is a UFC analyst on FS1, and following UFC 211, he offered an assessment of the Maia fight.

“As we say at Roufusport at the end of practice, ‘They think they want some, but they don’t really want none,'” Woodley said on FS1’s post-UFC 211 show. “You guys have to recognize I have the highest takedown defense in the entire welterweight division (and) second overall in the UFC. I’ve fought the Andre Galvaos of the world, and I’ve also fought Jake Shields. (Maia) will have to pack a lunch if he thinks he’s going to jump on my back like that and take me down like he did Jorge Masvidal and Carlos Condit.”

Today, Woodley posted a video with his “new training partner” (via Instagram):

My new training partner #BackPack is going everywhere with me!!! Check out #TheMorningWoodShow to hear what I think about @demianmaia #MatchUp and #ufc211 recap ??LINK IN BIO??@DinThomas Produced by: @tjdesantis

A post shared by Tyron Woodley (@twooodley) on May 16, 2017 at 8:23pm PDT

Maia, who unsuccessfully challenged for then-champ Anderson Silva’s middleweight title in 2010, ultimately dropped to welterweight, where his current seven-fight winning streak finally earned him a title shot.

Woodley, meanwhile, recently had a two-fight series with Stephen Thompson; after a majority draw in their first meeting, Woodley won the rematch via majority decision to mark his first title defense. He won the belt with a knockout of Robbie Lawler in 2016.

For complete coverage of UFC 211, check out the UFC Events section of the site.