And people wonder why Tyron Woodley has a chip on his shoulder.
Woodley is one of the most exciting fighters in arguably the most stacked division in the UFC. It just so happens that ‘the Chosen One’ has also managed to reach the summit of the 170 lb murderers’ row and get that coveted golden strap wrapped around his waist.
Despite being a UFC champion, one of the most knowledgeable MMA analysts on Fox, a family man, appearing in major movies and just being generally sound (see his gesture to Kelvin Gastelum after their fight), the man who has all the ingredients to be a star just isn’t all that likeable in the eyes of the average fight fan.
Asking for money fights, playing the race card and Dana White’s recent comments are all contributing factors to Woodley’s struggle to gain the appreciation of the masses. However, the champion who prides himself on being a self-made man believes the problem is how he is being promoted.
“They're not booing him because he's black” https://t.co/QR1yzFJKna
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 11, 2017
Ahead of his highly-anticipated rematch against Stephen Thompson at UFC 209, Woodley has been flat-out doing media work.
Considering the amount of noise Woodley has been making about how he is being marketed, it is nearly guaranteed that his complaints will be addressed in every interview. When his claim of being the ‘worst treated champion in the history of the UFC’ was brought up during a recent interview with ESPN, the sports broadcasting behemoths really dropped the ball.
“What I said was actual factual. I’m not going to go into specific incidences and situations, but you do the math.”
Woodley then tore into the Countdown promo for UFC 209, which he feels was craftily edited to portray Wonderboy in a better light than him. Just when he was telling viewers to look at the trailer to take in what had happened the first time they threw down at UFC 205, the station inexplicably cut to a package featuring Conor McGregor.
Unaware of the clips of McGregor shadowboxing and fighting Max Holloway were being beamed out while he spoke, Woodley kept on trucking to break down his dominant moments in his first fight with Wonderboy. Someone behind the scenes must have realised the error and the footage was swiftly cut short.
Check out the bizarre incident in the video embedded below. It begins at around the 3:25 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=196&v=RmgFBxtRTRs
