It is common knowledge that Tyron Woodley had long pursued a fight against Georges St-Pierre prior to St-Pierre’s retirement, but what might not known is that the fight was offered to St-Pierre on multiple occasions according to Tyron Woodley, and each time St-Pierre flatly refused (Via BJPenn.com):
“I came to the UFC about potentially fighting Georges, and then they went to Georges about a fight, and Georges would say ‘no, I want to fight somebody that makes sense for my career, that’s going to boost me.’ A.K.A., he felt that if he we fought it was only a win-win situation for me,” Woodley explained to TMZ. “He had a stronger name, stronger brand. I would gain strong pay-per-view points from the fight. If he wins, he was supposed to win. If I win, now my career is boosted. That was his reasoning many, many times. It wasn’t once. It was lots of times. Five or six times, this fight was brought to him, to take on a fight against me, and he wasn’t into it.”
It was a frustrating experience for Tyron Woodley to not be granted the opportunity to take the torch from Georges St-Pierre, but as time has passed, he has grown to understand the lack of motivation for St-Pierre to accept the fight:
“At the time I had to make it ‘you’re a b***h, you’re scared to fight me, but in real life, if I was him, does he have to fight me? He really doesn’t have to fight me,” Woodley said. “He already fought the powerful wrestlers that can now strike, like Johny Hendricks. He’s already fought Josh Koscheck, he already fought everybody like that.”
It becomes even easier for Tyron Woodley to understand why Georges St-Pierre was uninterested in the fight when Woodley describes his vision of how a fight between the two would play out and what St-Pierre’s chances would be:
“He’s not going to beat me, just because I’m a better version of him,” Woodley said. “I’m more powerful than him, I’m stronger, it’d be nearly impossible for him to take me down. I’m going to be able to go five rounds. Carlos Condit couldn’t withstand him, Jon Fitch couldn’t withstand him, but I’ve got the tools that they didn’t have. I’ve got the wrestling that Carlos didn’t have, I’ve got the power that Jon Fitch didn’t have.”
How do you believe a fight between St-Pierre and Tyron Woodley would have gone?