You’d be forgiven for forgetting that the welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson is UFC 209’s main event.
For some reason, that fight hasn’t captured the imagination of fight fans quite like the interim lightweight title co-headliner between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
It could be that there just wasn’t a massive interest in seeing an immediate rematch following their draw at UFC 205, it could be Conor McGregor’s link to the lightweight division or it could be the act that the 155-ers have done an excellent job of promoting their fight.
Well, there hasn’t been a whole lot of animosity between the welterweights in the build up to this title fight, but they’ve done a fine job of sparking interest at the very last minute with their heated interview with ESPN.
It all kicked off when they were discussing the first time they threw down in New York. Wonderboy was having none of Woodley’s claim that he dominated on the feet.
Tyron Woodley:
“I hit you twice?”
Stephen Thompson:
“You hit me twice that did damage, yes.”
TW:
“That’s how you know your head’s still shook. You got knocked down four times, brother… I hit you at least 40 times in the first round. Your math is off, maybe you should have went to college.”
Well said, @TWooodley #UFC209 https://t.co/Hh3em1biW7
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 2, 2017
Funnily enough, the tension rose again when Wonderboy was trying his best to argue that this was not a grudge match. He hesitated to call his opponent the cream of the 170 lb crop, which was jumped on immediately.
ST:
“Nah, it’s not personal at all, man. I’m just going to go out there and fight. This why I do what I do. I just want to fight the best and Tyron’s the champion, like I said, for a reason. So…”
TW:
“Because I’m the best.”
ST:
“Yeah, but I’m going out to prove that.”
TW:
“You’re going out there to prove that I’m the best?”
ST:
“That I’m the best.”
TW:
“You’re going out there to fool yourself.”
ST:
“It’s alright, man. I don’t know why you’ve got to be so mean, man. Man, this guy’s so mean. (Both burst into laughter)”
They belly-chuckles kind of undermined the mean demeanour, but this one should be a hell of a fight. Not to be missed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1GppoKB4_k
