According to UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, he’ll start training boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather for his transition to MMA this week.
“I talked to Floyd yesterday actually,” Woodley told TMZ Sports at the weekend. “He’s in Miami right now and we’re coordinating dates on training. . .
“We’re beginning the process of setting up the timing. I think more of it is gonna be game-planning strategy over the phone and talking about the game-plan of training, because if you think about the wrestling, if you think about the jiu-jitsu, if you think about the kicking aspect of the game, he does not have to go out there and learn how to kick like Bruce Lee. He does not have to go out there and become a black belt overnight, he just has to be able to stop it and get in boxing range and I think anybody in the UFC, he’s gonna be able to handle his own with.
“I think we’re gonna start most of it next week, so I think we’re gonna start some of the strategy talks next week and we might get some sessions in as well.”
If you take Woodley’s word for it then it seems like Mayweather really is going to make an attempt at switching over to fighting in MMA, but many people remain skeptical, including UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway.
“You guys really believe this guy is going to take an MMA fight, at however old he is right now, against a young guy that’s tough who people consider one of the best in the sport?” Holloway stated on The MMMA Hour show. “It just blows my mind, man.
“If people believe that kind of stuff, it’s wild. I really don’t know what to say.”
Holloway also took aim directly at Woodley for fanning the flames with regards to this particular story.
“I mean, I love Woodley,” Holloway continued. “Woodley’s the man. He’s a great dude, but I swear he talks about everything. He’s talking about everything. Whatever you can talk about, he talks about it. That guy is always on TMZ or something, so he wants to be talked about all of the time, that’s it. Woodley, you are the man, brother, but I think it’s a PR stunt.
“How can you not think it’s not a PR stunt? I don’t know. This guy is always — every time I see on Twitter something retweeting about TMZ, it’s Tyron Woodley talking about it. So it’s like, gosh, is this guy a champion or is he a TMZ reporter? What is going on, my friend?”
