A few months ago former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley was adamant that he wouldn’t be flying all the way to London, England to fight Leon Edwards in March, but now he’s doing just that – so why the change of heart?
“I think Tyron looked at the landscape, and he said to himself, ‘OK, I got to get back to the mix of things,” Woodley’s manager Abraham Kawa told MMA Junkie. “We forget: Tyron always fought the No. 1 contender every single time … when we’re now living in the day and age of everybody (calling out) the big superstar, we pick and choose who it’s OK for and who it’s not OK for.”
It’s now approaching a year since Woodley last fought, losing the title to Kamaru Usman, and so its certainly about time for him to make his comeback, and while Edwards may not have the star power that Woodley was hoping for, with eight wins in a row under his belt he’s certainly earned the right to a high-profile headliner like this.
“Tyron ended up with Leon, if that makes any sense,” Kawa continued. “Leon, I think has the same problem Kamaru does. People don’t relate; it’s very hard for them to sell a pay-per-view. Great fighters, I take nothing from their skill. I’m not bashing them. I’m saying when Tyron has more fans than that person’s own country … I told Tyron, ‘If you go to London and knock out Leon, you did the same thing Jorge Masvidal did a year ago.’ The only difference is, Masvidal walked in there and took fans from (Darren) Till compared to Tyron going into London and giving fans to Leon.”
With the fight now booked, Kawa claims that Woodley is now focused on making a major impact when he returns to the Octagon on March 21st.
“He’s is completely and utterly just, ‘I’m going to kill people. That’s where Tyron is right now mentally. He wants to be that killer. He’s going to be that killer, so I don’t think it matters anymore who, where and what. It just doesn’t matter to him anymore. He wants to fight.”
