Tyron Woodley Should Not Avoid the Stephen Thompson Fight

UFC 201 has come and gone, and now there’s a new UFC welterweight champion on the block. In the main event at UFC 201, Tyron Woodley knocked out Robbie Lawler in the first round to become the new UFC welterweight champion. It was the seventh UFC title change in 2016. However, now that Tyron Woodley is champion, he has made it clear that he’s not interested in a fight against the next contender in line for the belt, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. Instead, Woodley is calling out for potential “money” fights against Nick Diaz and Georges St. Pierre. No matter what Woodley thinks or says, he should not be allowed to avoid a title fight with Stephen Thompson.

For starters, Tyron Woodley is a bit delusional over how big of a draw he is in the sport of MMA. His fight with Robbie Lawler didn’t bring in big numbers in terms of the live gate and attendance. UFC 201 was the third UFC PPV event at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, and it only drew a reported attendance of about 10,000 people and a live gate of $1.07 million. By comparison, UFC 88, headlined by Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans, drew an attendance of 14,700 people and a gate of $2.6 million in 2008. In 2012, UFC 145, headlined by Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans, drew an attendance of over 15,000 people and a gate of $2.2 million. The point is this, for fights to be “moneyweight” superfights, you need to have two fighters who are considerable draws to be considered “moneyweight” fighters. Tyron Woodley is not one of those guys. That’s the reality of the situation. Tyron Woodley might think he is and act like he is, but he’s not a draw the level of Conor McGregor or Ronda Rousey. As such, Woodley cannot call his own shots and fight whoever he wants and expect UFC to kowtow to his every whim.

Woodley seems to think now that he’s won the title, it’s time for him to relax and get his retirement fund. It will be smooth sailing here on out with easy match-ups against Nick Diaz, a draw yes, but a man who hasn’t won a fight since 2011. That’s also the last time Nick Diaz passed a drug test on fight night. Unfortunately, that’s not how it works. As champion, Woodley is not the matchmaker, and he does not get to decide who he will or won’t fight.

Woodley deserves credit for winning the title and what he did. His mindset is understandable. He wants to make as much money as he can out of the sport to support his family and set himself up for life, considering he’s putting his body and future health on the line. What else? To some degree, Woodley’s behavior is brought on by the UFC’s action. Case in point, the UFC is currently setting up a title match at middleweight between new champion Michael Bisping and the No. 13-ranked Dan Henderson, who is coming off one victory over Hector Lombard in a fight that was hardly a title eliminator. The rightful contender should be Jacare, but he’s apparently hurt right now. Last year, you saw Alexander Gustafsson receive a light heavyweight title shot against Daniel Cormier, despite the fact that Gustafsson was coming off a knockout loss. He was given the shot instead of Ryan Bader, who was on a four-fight winning streak at the time, mainly because the idea of Bader receiving a title shot or being put in a five-round title main event made most fans gag. And then you have Conor McGregor, the UFC featherweight champion, taking a pointless rematch against Nate Diaz at welterweight of all places. Conor McGregor can get pretty much any fight he wants right now, and the fight he apparently wanted was a rematch with Diaz at welterweight. In other words, recent decisions by the UFC have basically enabled for Woodley to do exactly what he is trying to do right now.

At the same time, that doesn’t mean that Woodley’s requests should be granted. Right now, Stephen Thompson is the guy to beat at welterweight. By all accounts, he’s earned his right to fight for the title. He’s won seven in a row, and he’s 8-1 overall in the UFC. During his recent winning streak, he defeated the likes of Rory MacDonald and former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks. Those were two opponents Tyron Woodley did not have to beat in order to become champion. Woodley basically was able to pick and choose his way into a title shot. After the fight with Hendricks fell through at UFC 192, Dana White and the UFC basically said that Woodley would get the next title shot. That was a mistake, and on this occasion, they actually upheld that promised title shot. Thompson has run the gauntlet, and he’s the next guy to fight for the title. It should be an absolute certainty.

Just because Woodley knocked out Robbie Lawler doesn’t give him the right to deny Thompson a title shot. It’s not up to Woodley. A fight with Diaz isn’t happening at UFC 202. Quite frankly, it shouldn’t even happen for the title at all because 1) Diaz hasn’t won a fight in five years and 2) Diaz can’t pass a drug test on fight night.

Plain and simple, the one fight for Woodley right now is Stephen Thompson. If he believes he is the best welterweight in the world, he should continue to prove it. He should not be allowed to deny Thompson a title shot at any point. And if he refuses to fight Wonderboy, he should be stripped of the belt.