Tyron Woodley reveals Georges St-Pierre turned down fights with him ‘five or six times’

UFC welterweight champ Tyron Woodley has been chasing a fight with Georges St-Pierre for years. Now that St-Pierre is retired, however, it would seem to be forever off the table.

Speaking to TMZ shortly after St-Pierre’s retirement message, Tyron Woodley revealed that he approached the UFC about a fight with the Canadian legend multiple times, but that St-Pierre turned it down each time.

“I came to the UFC about potentially fighting Georges, and then they went to Georges about a fight, and Georges would say ‘no, I want to fight somebody that makes sense for my career, that’s going to boost me.’ A.K.A., he felt that if he we fought it was only a win-win situation for me,” Woodley explained. “He had a stronger name, stronger brand. I would gain strong pay-per-view points from the fight. If he wins, he was supposed to win. If I win, now my career is boosted. That was his reasoning many, many times. It wasn’t once. It was lots of times. Five or six times, this fight was brought to him, to take on a fight against me, and he wasn’t into it.”

While Tyron Woodley would have liked to fight Georges St-Pierre, he understands why the Canadian turned the bout down.

“At the time I had to make it ‘you’re a b***h, you’re scared to fight me, but in real life, if I was him, does he have to fight me? He really doesn’t have to fight me,” Woodley said. “He already fought the powerful wrestlers that can now strike, like Johny Hendricks. He’s already fought Josh Koscheck, he already fought everybody like that.

“He’s not going to beat me, just because I’m a better version of him,” he added. “I’m more powerful than him, I’m stronger, it’d be nearly impossible for him to take me down. I’m going to be able to go five rounds. Carlos Condit couldn’t withstand him, Jon Fitch couldn’t withstand him, but I’ve got the tools that they didn’t have. I’ve got the wrestling that Carlos didn’t have, I’ve got the power that Jon Fitch didn’t have.”

Despite his disappointment, Tyron Woodley says he he does rank Georges St-Pierre as one of the best fighters of all time. Third best, to be precise, right behind Jon Jones and Anderson Silva.

“Jon, Anderson, Georges,” Woodley said, when asked for his picks for the three best fighters ever, in order.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 2/22/2019.