Tyron Woodley: the biggest pain in the ass champion in the history of UFC welterweight division

There are 9 weight classes in UFC. Every weight class has a champion and the top ten contenders. However, the champion is also usually the most popular fighter of that division because every champion goes through practically every top fighter in the division before getting a shot at the title. But once you become the champion then with every title defense you build your legacy. The best way to go about it is by fighting stronger opponents. This is also the only way to earn the respect of the fans who would eventually pay to see their favorite champion win the fight. Any MMA fan would agree to this. So, no matter how badly Connor matches against Khabib as some experts say because of the difference in their clinch and ground game skills, Connor doesn’t care. It’s this confidence he has in his abilities that makes him an awesome champion. Tyron Woodley on the other hand is not only not an awesome champion, he is the most annoying champion there is.

I am not his biggest fan but then you rarely find a guy who would say I am Tyron Woodley's biggest fan. I don’t blame him but the one thing he was most famous for was knocking out people and he has not been able to do so in all three of his title defenses so far. He has fought Stephen 'Wonderboy’ Thompson twice already but only came very close to finishing him on both occasions but could never actually get there. Other than the last one minute of the fifth round in which Woodley came very close to finishing Thompson it was Wonderboy who essentially dominated most of the rounds. For his third title defense going against a submission specialist like Demian Maia I thought he would be able to easily knock him out in the later rounds but he never got close to a finish. Tyron Woodley's fighting style ever since he won the belt has been to somehow just be a notch above the challenger. He has barely managed to save his belt. And despite all this he somehow thinks he can be a star of a super fight. This is the main reason why Tyron Woodley doesn’t get the respect he is so hungry for. Woodley has not fought in more than six months now and has only recently recovered from a shoulder injury. And now that he is back and good to fight, he is making all kinds of noises instead of fighting the next top contender. First Woodley went after Bisping last year to book a super fight at middleweight but that idea never took off. Then he calls out GSP but GSP never showed any interest in him in the first place. Now he wants to fight Nate Diaz for some weird reason, may be because he thinks that might eventually lead him to a super fight with Connor McGregor. Nate Diaz is currently the number 8 lightweight. Nate has also lost to Rafael Dos Anjos who was the previous lightweight champion and is currently the number 2 welterweight. In an ideal scenario Nate Diaz doesn’t fair at all as a challenger for the belt in any weight class. He has lost more than a third of his fights and is most famous for submitting a featherweight at welterweight. Ironically that is also the only win Nate has at welterweight. Nate Diaz would be a very easy fight for Tyron Woodley. This is such a bad match up skill wise that even if Woodley wins this fight it would mean nothing to anybody in the whole division. Any mma fan would question this and ask why would you fight the number 8 lightweight when there are 8 awesome fighters in your own weight class. When you are the champion and you do such things, you lose the respect of the fans and make it harder for the promotion to sell your fights.

Speaking of great champions, George St. Pierre, who hung his boots four years back after 9 successful title defenses as the welterweight king. While he could have made a comeback in the same division, he stepped up a weight class and fought against a great fighter and the middleweight champion Michael Bisping and ended up choking him out in the third round. GSP not only became the undisputed middleweight champion but also earned the respect of everyone in the mma world who doubted him and said it was a bad idea to fight a bigger dude at middleweight. Tyron Woodley on the other hand is trying to do the exact opposite. He is going after a weaker opponent that too from the lower weight class. Why would fans respect Tyron if he does something like that. It’s not like Tyron doesn’t have good options, he has plenty. But it’s a choice he made when he said he wants to fight Nate. And because of this choice he gets booed at every press conference. Tyron 'The Chosen One' Woodley needs to understand that respect has to be earned and not demanded or cried for.