Israel Adesanya thinks Tyron Woodley is desperate for a money fight.
Adesanya is the reigning UFC middleweight champion, while Woodley is in the welterweight division hoping for a second run at the 170-pound gold. A social media spat between the two started when Woodley expressed his belief that the hype surrounding Adesanya is a bit overboard. “The Last Stylebender” fired back and the two have been trading verbal shots since.
Adesanya Thinks Woodley Is Broke
James Lynch of theScore MMA was able to get in touch with Adesanya. The UFC middleweight king discussed his new beef with Woodley and has a theory as to why this whole thing started.
“To make it clear, these guys are calling me out. Jones, Tyron, I never once spoke their name and then they said something about me. If you ever hear me say anything about them it’s because they’ve said something about me that you might not have heard, or you might not have seen yet. So they’re the ones who keep reaching at me because they know what’s up. They know who the new dog in the yard, the big dog in the yard is now. I’ve been said it since day one, since [UFC] 221. But now they’re like, ‘oh sh*t this is the money fight that I need. This is the big dog in the yard.’
“Like I said, Tyron is reaching cause he’s broke or he’s about to be broke. So he’s just like, ‘I need anyone that’s not Leon Edwards. Anyone that can just like be a big cash grab.’ Tyron will take an ass whooping just to fight me as long as he gets paid good. Put it that way.”
Woodley has been trying to get high-profile bouts since he was the welterweight champion. “The Chosen One” was vying for bouts with Georges St-Pierre, Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping, and Nick Diaz. Woodley never received any of those fights.
Adesanya is expected to put his 185-pound gold on the line against Paulo Costa at some point this year. As for Woodley, he saw his scheduled bout with Leon Edwards postponed. “The Chosen One” has seemingly shown disinterest in getting that bout booked again.
