Tyron Woodley Wants Memorable Win Over MacDonald

Tyron Woodley had hoped that his win over Carlos Condit would put him in talks of a shot at the welterweight title, however that was not the case. Now Woodley hopes that an impressive win over Rory MacDonald will get him the shot, he feels, he rightfully deserves. Woodley joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour to discuss his feeling about being overlooked for a title shot in the past, as well as his match with Rory MacDonald.

“My initial reaction was obviously not excited. I wasn’t jumping over the fence and looking for rainbows in the sky. For me, I was pretty upset because I was told verbally through Dana White and Lorenzo that I would fight this kid in his hometown, and the winner of this bout would get a shot at the world title. For me, I thought the risk matched the reward. I was prepared to go up to this kid’s hometown, steal the show and upset the party in his own hometown. In my mind it was worth doing that for a shot at the world title. I’m a man of my word. I’ve trained hard for this fight, I’ve put all my ducks in one basket. I’m going up there and I’m going up there to win and I think that no fighter in the history of UFC has ever had etched in their contract that if you win this bout against this guy, your guaranteed a UFC world title fight. Though they said that, I think performance conquers all. I think I can go out their and outperform all of those guys. I will have beaten the No. 2 guy back-to-back. So I think I put myself in that category to fight for a world title. I think if the fans get behind me and really rally up, I think you still can see me fighting for the world title. I didn’t put too much into it. I think people always remember your last performance and I’m going to give them something to remember.”