Former UFC champion Tyron Woodley understands the politics of the fight game, which is why he wasn’t all that shocked to hear Dana White declare that Kamaru Usman is the greatest welterweight of all time.
Ahead of UFC 322 where Islam Makhachev claimed the 170-pound title with a shutout performance over Jack Della Maddalena, the UFC CEO went on Usman’s podcast and declared he was the GOAT. Of course, White’s opinion was immediately met with criticism due to most fighters and pundits putting Georges St-Pierre in that top spot after he defended the UFC welterweight title for a record nine times.
Woodley, who defended the title four times before he lost the belt to Usman in 2019, scoffed at the idea that his former opponent has ascended to GOAT status in the welterweight division.
“Kamaru is not the greatest welterweight of all time,” Woodley told MMA Fighting. “I’m the realest. I had the realest route. I had the realest reign. I was the person who dealt with the most stuff behind the scenes and still managed to win, that I don’t even speak about. I fought all the top contenders that were not big trash talkers. Nobody wanted to say a bad word about Demian Maia, Robbie Lawler or ‘Wonderboy’ [Stephen Thompson]. I fought all the up and coming guys. Even Usman and Colby [Covington] and [Darren] Till, those are all up and coming guys.
“He’s not the greatest welterweight of all time. What he is, he is the one that kissed the most ass.”
Woodley believes that Usman working hard to stay in White’s good graces over the years likely helped him secure that unofficial title as the welterweight GOAT more than what he did in the octagon.
When it comes to accolades, Usman did defend the title five times with two wins over Colby Covington, two wins over Jorge Masvidal and a victory against Gilbert Burns. Still, Woodley argues that White’s declaration isn’t as much about championship credentials as praising someone who followed his lead and didn’t rock the boat.
“He’s the one ‘Oh let’s have uncle Dana on my podcast,’” Woodley said about Usman. “’Let me accept every fight. Let me go to Vegas and just sit and loiter in his office every week and just try to stay in his good graces and just accept whatever offer.’
“If you do that long enough, you will be one of these guys that end up in the category where you’ll now be rewarded because you took last minute notice fights, you fought injured, you didn’t complain about money, you didn’t ask for more, you didn’t ask questions, you always was trying to be goody two shoes and brown nosing. So yeah, he’s the biggest brown noser in the welterweight division. He is a good fighter though.”
Woodley promises he isn’t holding onto some long-term grudge against Usman because they fought once and he lost — although he definitely wishes they got the chance to run it back. But he just doesn’t see how anybody could put Usman as the No. 1 welterweight of all-time, especially compared to St-Pierre and his resume.
“He’s a good fighter,” Woodley said. “He stayed disciplined but that’s what he is. He’s not the greatest welterweight. How can you even say that? Once you say he’s the greatest and you’re trying to say he’s better than Georges [St-Pierre], nobody even listens to you after that.
“When you really think about the era they did it, it’s Georges No. 1, I would say it’s Matt Hughes No. 2. Just because we looked up to Matt Hughes and he won nine times when it was a specialist sport, wrestlers versus strikers versus grapplers versus that. We got a chance to sit back and watch those two guys and then kind of carve out our deal. I would say me and Usman are probably tied for third. You can’t say I’m over him because he beat me but I never got a rematch. He fought a shit hole of a version of me. I was going through so much crap in life. I don’t even remember the fight. I never went back and watched the fight. I just feel like with his rematch history, Colby got to fight him twice, [Jorge] Masvidal got to fight him twice. Leon Edwards got a chance to fight him twice. I’m the only one that didn’t get a chance to fight him twice because they knew that 9 out of 10 times, if we fought, I’m going to win 9 out of 10 times.”
Woodley admits he once had a close relationship with Usman when he first became champion and “The Nigerian Nightmare” was still working his way up the welterweight ranks.
At the time, Woodley says Usman would often ask him for advice about his career and he tried to give him some guidance whenever possible. He believes their relationship changed while building towards their eventual showdown at UFC 235 in 2019.
“I’m not hating. Kamaru is a great fighter,” Woodley said. “He was at all my after parties [asking me] ‘how’s it feel to be a champion? How’s it feel when Dana White [wraps the belt around your waist]?’ He was at my after parties after my title fights and asking me what he should do [saying] ‘they’re talking about me when I said I was only at 30 percent and how should I do this? I’m waiting and Colby is just waiting around.’ I was mentoring him and Colby telling them what they needed to do and how they needed to position themselves. You look at him dressing up trying to be flashy or be an analyst or get a Monster deal, that’s all from me. He wanted to do what I did.
“I was like big bro and then he almost got offended and heartbroken, remember when I was killing him during those press conferences about the LL Cool J stuff? That’s the way I joke around. I grew up in a family of 13, we didn’t have money to go to a movie theater every week. So we did Apollo at the crib. We did a game called make you laugh and we poked fun and joked [with] each other. So I’m really good, I’m really quick with that. So I was just like friendly roasting him but he was getting mad. You’ve got to realize, I’m like what Matt Hughes was to Georges St-Pierre. Usman looked up to me. So the person he looked up to and got a lot of respect for is poking fun at him. He didn’t like it. We was calling him Marty and we was killing Usman in those press conferences and he was so mad.”
Woodley says he only spoke to Usman briefly after they fought and he holds no ill will towards him but that doesn’t change the fact that he refuses to call him the welterweight GOAT.
“We spoke a couple of times after that, he was like ‘yeah, I know that wasn’t the best version of you. I want to fight that version of you,’” Woodley said about Usman. “Publicly, he never ever mentioned a rematch. Because he already knows what time it is.”
Right now, Woodley is nearing the date for his boxing match against fellow UFC legend Anderson Silva when they meet on the Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua card on Dec. 19.
Woodley, who did the interview after spending the day filming Road House 2 in England, hasn’t fought in MMA since his final appearance in the UFC in 2021. While he did sign with the Global Fight League, Woodley can’t say for certain if his days competing in MMA are over.
He’s not shutting that door but Woodley admits it would probably take something special to get him back in the cage again.
“I’m still praying to God about that,” Woodley said about fighting MMA again. “Because I wanted to go back and just finish with a bang. Give it a proper closure and go back and go out on a win. But I’ve got to really ask God is that my pride and my ego or is that your will? Because if it’s my pride and ego, I’ve got to be willing if God says close that door. Because at 43 years old, my body ain’t no 24-year-old body that can go eat a double cheeseburger from McDonald’s and walk into the gym and just torture everybody and have a six-pack. I’m starting to see lunch, dinner, whatever I’m eating, I’m wearing it now. So I’ve got to watch for the first time in life, I’ve got to watch what I eat.
“So at the end of the day, if I walked away from MMA, is there something wrong with that? If I go back and beat five dudes in a row, am I even that much more of a legend? No. Am I about to gear back up and go on a whole new run and knock down young fighters and No. 1 contenders and get the belt and reign over it? No, I’m going to be looking for superfights no matter where I fight at. What sport it is don’t matter. There’s a superfight that excites me and it puts me in a position where I’m geared up and motivated — if I’m not geared up and motivated, I’m not doing it. Anderson Silva? I’m geared up. I’m motivated. This is Anderson Silva. I’m fitting to squish ‘The Spider.’ I’m literally pumped up. Everybody can’t make me feel that way.”
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