Tyron Woodley is one of UFC’s brightest stars.
The welterweight champion has an impressive 6-2-1 UFC record and will defend his title on March 4 at UFC 209 in a rematch against Stephen Thompson. Despite his ranks within UFC, Woodley believes he, as well as other fighters, have been victims of racial bias, preventing them from reaching their peak potential.
UFC president Dana White did not agree with Woodley’s claims, as he expressed in an interview with ESPN Radio on Friday. White believes Woodley’s attitude, if anything, will prevent him from being a star.
“The thing is with Tyron: First of all, he’s a smart guy, he’s a good-looking kid, he’s explosive, he’s got knockout power, but he’s a bit of a drama queen,” White told ESPN Radio, as transcribed by MMAJunkie. “I think he means the fans are a big part of it too. When a fight is made — and Conor McGregor is a perfect example — Conor McGregor has that ‘fight anybody, anywhere’ attitude. But (he) doesn’t just have the attitude, he lives it.
“I’ve stood in front of (McGregor on) 10 days’ notice, and his opponent falls out and he doesn’t care. He doesn’t care. ‘Bring them all, I’m better than everybody. I’m the man. I’m the guy.’ If Tyron Woodley had that attitude, Tyron Woodley would be a massive star — massive star.”
White believes if Woodley were to drop certain antics, he would resonate more with UFC fans.
“He does these things where he literally — he’ll say on Instagram when they know who he’s supposed to fight next, he’ll go out on social media and say, ‘I’m not fighting him. I think I want to fight him or this guy or this guy,’” White said. “That’s not what people want to hear. People don’t want to hear that. Then what he does, then, is he’ll start fighting and arguing with people on social media.
“He wonders why he shows up at a press conference, (and) the whole crowd is booing him. They’re not booing him because he’s black. There are tons of black guys fighting in the UFC. It’s Tyron. If you look at the guy, he’s the perfect specimen, he’s the perfect athlete that you can get behind and promote until he shoots himself in the foot by doing that type of stuff.”
Thumbnail photo via Jayne Kamin-Oncea/USA TODAY Sports Images
