Tyron Woodley warns Conor McGregor to avoid a shot at welterweight gold
Tyron Woodley has a message for Conor McGregor
UFC featherweight champ Conor McGregor may compete at 145 pounds at his championship weight, but the heavy-handed Irishman is no stranger to fighting at higher weight classes as he has competed inside the Octagon as heavy as 170 pounds.
McGregor, who owns the record for fastest knockout in UFC title fight history with his 13-second thrashing of Jose Aldo at UFC 194, competed in the UFC’s welterweight division twice during his bad blood feud with Stockton native Nate Diaz at UFC 196 and 202. McGregor’s record in the weight class sits at 1-1 as Diaz submitted ‘The Notorious One’ in the second round of their initial meeting in March, before Conor secured a majority decision win at UFC 202 in the highly-anticipated rematch.
The former Cage Warriors dual-weight champ will attempt to make UFC history once again when he takes on Eddie Alvarez in the main event of UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden, where he will attempt to become the first man in the promotion’s history to hold two belts in different weight classes simultaneously. Just before the Irishman attempts to make history yet again, however, UFC welterweight champ Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley will be making his first career title defense in the evening’s co-main event, when he takes on Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.
Woodley recently spoke to Chris Taylor of BJ Penn.com to discuss his upcoming clash with Thompson, and was also asked his thoughts on a potential throw-down with McGregor down the line, who has expressed interest in going after the 170-pound crown as well:
“Well first off I think Conor is a smart individual and he knows that fighting me is not going to be good for his health,” Woodley said. “I just do not really see him wanting that fight. I see him relinquishing his 145-pound belt and then maybe defending his title a few times at lightweight. Maybe he does a super-fight here or there. There has been talks of him fighting Floyd Mayweather in boxing.”
The heavy-handed American Top Team product believes that if he and McGregor met inside the Octagon, he would have a clear advantage in all aspects of the game, claiming this as the reason he believes the ‘smart business man’ in McGregor would never opt to challenge Woodley:
“So he is a smart business guy and so I do not think he is going to want to come up and fight a guy who is going to outsize him,” Woodley said. “Being 170 and fighting 170 is two different things. I walk around at 200. Giving up that 30-pounds. Plus he is not going to have a boxing advantage. He is definitely not going to have a wrestling advantage. He is definitely not going to have a strength advantage. And it would be a lopsided display of power.”
UFC 205 will go down live on pay-per-view (PPV) from the iconic Madison Square Garden arena in New York City on November 12, 2016.
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