Tyron Woodley explains why he hasn’t been able to fight people like GSP, Diaz brothers

In the past, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has attempted to set up lucrative showdowns with UFC stars like Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre, Michael Bisping, and Nick and Nate Diaz. Unfortunately for Woodley, none of these stars have taken the bait, and he thinks he knows why.

In terms of fighters such as St-Pierre, Tyron Woodley thinks he is simply too risky of an opponent.

“We all know why. People can always act like they’ll fight anybody, any time until it’s time to fight me,” Woodley recently told ‘Sway’s Universe’ (transcript via MMANytt). “I can name five or six people [that say] ‘I’ll fight anybody, any time’. Nate Diaz, Nick Diaz, Michael Bisping, Georges St-Pierre, Conor McGregor. All had the opportunity, all was given the chance to fight me, none of them accepted.”

“They’re scared to lose to somebody [whose] name recognition is going grow after I whoop their ass,” he continued. “If Georges St-Pierre is going to lose, he wants to lose to somebody [so he can say] basically ‘oh I fought in a different weight class, I’ve been out for X amount of years, I lost to Bisping, it’s not that [big a deal]’. [If] he comes back to his old weight class and gets worked over by the new school, that’s going to be a problem.”

In the case of the Diaz brothers, he just thinks the UFC isn’t willing to pay them what they deserve.

“I like the Diaz brothers, I like Nate and Nick,” Tyron Woodley said. “I like how they fight and how real they are. They aren’t paying these guys. Nate accepted the fight against me. He accepted the fight but he wants to get paid and he should get paid. They didn’t pay him.”

Why do you think Tyron Woodley has had such a hard time tracking down lucrative super fights?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/19/2018.