Dana White recently stated that Tyron Woodley was “full of sh*t” for claiming that there were plans in the works to have him fight Nate Diaz later this year, and it seems that the welterweight champion isn’t happy about having been called out like that.
“That’s a little bit harsh, a little bit hardcore for somebody who is wearing the belt of your organization, that people and young fighters aspire to enter the UFC, they aspire to be UFC champion,” Woodley told ESPN. “I don’t think many people are going to aspire to be the champion when they see how champions are treated. And they see that the non-champions and the people that are unprofessional — middle-finger flicking, shit talking — they’re actually making the money.
“So what kind of picture are we trying to put out? I thought we were going in the direction to be parallel with the NFL, NHL, MLB and the other professional sports. It’s a circus until it comes to Tyron and now we want to go back to the old-school rubric. I got issues with that.”
Woodley is also smarting at the fact that Diaz has actually admitted that Woodley was his best option currently for a comeback fight, yet he didn’t face the same heat from the UFC President.
“I just didn’t think that was right. I think even if he thought that way, it could have been said a different way. I think a lot of people spun what I was saying. Never said this fight was in negotiations. Never said any of those things. Then when Nate came out, I never heard anybody say how full of shit Nate was. It’s so funny it was a one-sided bashing.”
Woodley is now looking for sit-down talks with White, and is adamant that he shouldn’t be getting treated so harshly by him in the future when he’s just trying to promote himself.
“It can’t go down like that. It’s very damaging for me, for a fighter that’s trying to generate his brand and his name.”
