Tyron Woodley says it was his mentality, not his TV and rap career, which kept him from achieving UFC welterweight GOAT status.
A man of many talents, Woodley famously pursued a variety of extracurricular activities during his reign as UFC welterweight champ. So much so that his show business accolades almost rival those of his fight career.
While UFC champion from 2016 to 2019, Woodley moonlighted as an analyst for Fox Sports and TMZ, forged a rap career, and even appeared alongside Rocky himself, Sylvester Stallone, in the 2018 direct-to-video action thriller Escape Plan 2: Hades. Somehow, Tyron also found time to dabble in podcasting, hosting the delightfully named “Morning Wood with Deez Nutz.”
It’s truly impressive that “The Chosen One” juggled all these commitments while also defending the UFC 170 lbs strap four times. After capturing the belt against Robbie Lawler, Woodley went on to defeat Stephen Thompson in back-to-back fights, Demian Maia, and Darren Till, before losing to current champ Kamaru Usman.
Tyron Woodley Blames “Chip On My Shoulder” For Derailing GOAT Ambitions
At his peak as UFC champ, Tyron appeared almost unbeatable. Feared for his explosiveness and one-punch KO power, it seemed like Woodley would reign atop the welterweight division for a long time.
So dominant was Woodley that some believed he was the greatest welterweight of all time. Most notably the man himself, who in media interviews during his reign as champ, would make claims to GOAT status almost as regularly as he would use the words “is” and “the.”
However, now wisened by age and perhaps humbled by the four-fight losing streak which ended his UFC career, Woodley has taken his self-appraisal down a notch.
In an interview with Showtime, Woodley reflected on his time as welterweight champ and his present status among the division’s greats. Sharing the thoughts of his coach, Gerald Tucker, Tyron said that the trappings that came with being champion saw him veer from the path of becoming the GOAT.
“He [Gerald Tucker] said, ‘You’re the director of your movie, and these are all scenes,” said Woodley. “At that time, oh, it may feel good to get this girl. It may feel good to maybe buy this Rolex, two of them at a time, like ridiculously. It may have felt good to do that. But if you’re the director, you step out of the scene, you go over here, you already know what the ending is.
“And you understand with this scene, it can change the ending of the movie. And I did a lot of things that changed (the ending of my movie). I saw myself as the GOAT, the greatest of all time, the best that ever did it. Anytime someone say ‘welterweight, ‘Oh, Tyron.’ They gotta address me first before Georges. I saw that. And I was on path to get that.”
Also offering distraction during “The Chosen One’s” UFC reign were his many show business commitments. But Tyron said he doesn’t regret pursuing these avenues, but rather, the self-defeating mentality he had at the time.
“I don’t regret music. I don’t regret television, TV. That’s art. I regret focusing my attention on trying to prove people wrong and having a chip on my shoulder because I felt like everybody was against me.”
As Woodley prepares to take on Jake Paul in his boxing debut this Sunday—a fight which may end up being the most watched of his career—Tyron says he’s firmly back in control of his career narrative.
“Sunday is gonna be a movie. And I’m gonna be the director of the movie.”
What do you think? Did Tyron Woodley’s many career pursuits contribute to his UFC decline?
