Tyrone Woodley He knows he has nothing left to prove. At the age of 40, with a career in the UFC behind him, the former welterweight champion is content with all that he has accomplished. That’s why he’s only interested in accepting fights that bring him up personally at this point in his career, whether that means boxing, kickboxing, or mixed martial arts.
But the latest he came close to being mistaken for British influencer turned boxer KSI? That would have checked every box the former champ was looking for. Because for Woodley, beef was their specialty.
“The contract negotiation was very disrespectful, and it made me want to hurt him,” Woodley said Monday. MMA watch. “So I told his manager this. I was on a call with his manager and I said, ‘There has never been such disrespect in a contract in my life.'”
KSI recently took out professional esports player FaZe Temperrr at an impact boxing event on January 14 at London’s Wembley Arena, but that opportunity was initially supposed to go elsewhere. Woodley said initial plans for the Misfits Boxing event were for a dual event featuring him vs. KSI and Logan Paul vs. Dillon Danes. Those plans eventually changed when Paul suffered a knee injury in WWE, but even before that, Woodley said he felt disrespected by the tactics he allegedly came from KSI.
Woodley said KSI demanded a short-term rehydration clause that would have forced him to weigh 175 pounds and then go into fight night no more than 185 pounds.
“So they wanted every feature,” Woodley said. And these were the conditions that were added after the agreement was already made. So we agreed, I got a contract, and they went, “Oh, I’m sorry to do that, but my KSI trainer wants to add this hydration thing.” So when I went out to Dubai, I found his coach’s face too, and I said, “I’m going to weigh 187. Killings, that’s what I’m going to weigh. I don’t weigh 185, and your baby will go up.”
“No one will ever speak up. No one wants to say anything, because they are about to.” [online talk]. And I’m really on the verge of that [real-life actions]. No matter what lessons I’ve had, no matter what I’ve seen, when I am, you know I really am a guy who will run right in your face with a full hand, or elbow, or kick, or whatever it takes. So I’m tired of it.”
In the end, the rehydration controversy didn’t matter.
Once Paul injured his knee, KSI chose to fight Danis instead, leaving the former welterweight champion as the odd man out of the equation. Woodley said that although he had a contract signed, he did not know about the switch from Misfits Boxing; Instead, find out KSI vs. Danis from the internet, just like everyone else.
Obviously, Dannis didn’t end up fighting at all and was eventually replaced by FaZe Temperrr of late, but the whole situation left a bad taste in Woodley’s mouth.
More than that, he said, since he never asked to fight KSI in the first place.
“I kind of didn’t want to cry over spilled milk,” Woodley said, “because one thing I have to realize is that I have to be careful about my legacy.” “I can’t just scream and scream and pound to try and fight these guys who come at it from a more recreational standpoint, right? Especially with what I’ve already done in my career.
“I never wanted to fight. Like, I never begged to fight. KSI asked me to fight. Jake Paul reminded me I fight him. KSI did a poll. I didn’t poll. He polled a million voters and they said he should fight me. Even when he was Dillon Danes [dropped] Outside [of the fight]He never called me. Why wasn’t I the first person they called, right?
And the only problem I have with him is, from a ‘does that make sense’ standpoint, yeah, it makes more sense to go out there and try to smoke somebody who’s a lesser opponent. Time, you can kind of miss me with the s*** bulls.”
For now, Woodley has moved on. He said he would be willing to entertain offers to fight KSI again but only for more money than he was offered the first time.
And he derided any comparisons being made between KSI and his old rival, fellow influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul, with whom Woodley loses twice in 2021.
“Jake actually fights guys,” Woodley said. “Anderson SilvaI, Ben Screen – And Mike Perry Back up, he’s a better, tougher opponent than Tommy Fury, right? So he has a harder fight if Tommy doesn’t show up. So you can never act like he’s not really fighting real people.
“But on the other hand, KSI is athletic but I think he’s just a little bit afraid, because he can hit really hard, but some people are used to being a hammer and not used to being the nail. He would be the nail in our fight, and I think he and his management staff knew that. If he was Wants to fight, he must be a multiplier of my problem.”