Tyron Woodley Denies Dana White’s Claim That He Doesn’t Want To Fight

In an interview with Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (via MMA Fighting), Tyron Woodley shot down Dana White’s claims that he doesn’t want to fight, saying that if he doesn’t fight, he doesn’t get paid. Here are highlights:

On agreeing to fight: “I’ve agreed to fight Colby. I’ve agreed to fight really anybody – that’s the funny part. I just asked for a little more time before I can confirm [my hand is good to go]. I’ve never said no to January 26. Let’s get that on record. I actually want to fight in Anaheim. I’ve stepped up for the UFC many, many, many times. But at one point, you need to start monitoring your legacy, monitoring your title run, monitoring the way you want to be remembered. I don’t want to be remembered as a guy that lost a fight to Colby Covington, or anybody else, because he knew he wasn’t 100 percent, or wasn’t given the chance to at least go through the physician that performed the surgery on his hand to get his clearance.”

On not coming back too soon: “That’s what a champion does. What a champion doesn’t do, he doesn’t go out there with an injury. He doesn’t go out there knowing he’s not 100 percent and rolls those dice, because if I go out there, and my hand’s not ready to go, and I fight Colby Covington, and I come up short that night, nobody’s going to care that my hand’s hurt. Colby Covington’s going to be, ‘Nah nah nah nah, ha ha ha ha ha,’ and he’ll never fight me again, because he knows the only chance he can beat me is if I’m lacking in one department. Outside of that, it’s virtually impossible for him to beat me.”

On wanting to fight: “I don’t make money if I don’t fight. If y’all think I want to sit around, and you think I make enough money in music, or TV, or movies, you guys have got life messed up. I make my money in fighting. That’s where I do the best at, and I recognize it’s my season right now, and that’s what I’m prepared to do.”