Tyron Woodley willing to fight Leon Edwards, but questions fan interest in matchup

After losing the welterweight title to Kamaru Usman earlier this year, Tyron Woodley is eager to get back into the cage. Unfortunately, many of his top-ranked welterweight rivals are currently booked.

Of the options available for Woodley, many fans and pundits believe the most suitable choice is a fight with streaking contender Leon Edwards.

Woodley respects Edwards as a fighter, and would be willing to fight him if nothing more favorable is available, but doesn’t feel many fans would be interested in the matchup. In fact, he says his son, who plays the UFC video game, didn’t even know who Edwards was.

“The (expletive) up part is my son was like, ‘Who is that?,’” Woodley said of Edwards during an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (via MMA Junkie).

“My kids know everybody. They play the video game, so when you got to explain to somebody who the person is and how good they really are, I have to pump up to the fact, to the people, and to the peers on how dope Leon is, because he is dope,” Woodley continued.

“He got super crazy strategic striking, super sharp, great cardio. He has good IQ, switched things around in the (Rafael dos Anjos fight), in the middle of the fight, so he’s dope as (expletive) as a fighter, but I’m going to have to sell the fact on how dope he is.”

Woodley believes that if he were matched up with Edwards, the onus to promote the fight would fall completely on his own shoulders. That said, he’ll accept that responsibility for the right price.

“Meanwhile, I’m going to have to continue to promote myself. I ain’t getting paid to promote him, so if it makes sense and the UFC makes it make sense with the dollar amount, and my coaches and my team think it’s the best move, then I’m going to go default to them,” Woodley said.

Does a fight between Tyron Woodley and Leon Edwards interest you?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 11/13/2019.