[MMA NEWS ARCHIVES]
Who do you think is the greatest UFC welterweight of all time? On this day four years ago, then-champion Tyron Woodley made the case for himself. The following is Woodley’s argument and the original article in their original, unaltered form.
On This Day Four Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED OCTOBER 17, 2017, 9:18 PM]
Tyron Woodley believes he has surpassed Georges St-Pierre’s legacy at welterweight and wants to prove it.
St-Pierre is known as the most dominant welterweight in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA). On Nov. 4, he will challenge Michael Bisping for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title at UFC 217.
Woodley is the reigning 170-pound title holder, who has defended his gold three times. “The Chosen One” had all three defenses in less than a year. An injury is holding him back from one last title defense to close out 2017.
While the winner of Robbie Lawler vs. Rafael dos Anjos is set to challenge Woodley next, the champion recently said on his “Morning Wood” podcast that he wants a bout against St-Pierre (via Flo Combat):
“They don’t want them problems, man. He had a chance to fight me and he said no. Georges has been away for three years, almost four. By the time he gets in there, it’s gonna be just a few days shy of four years so the sport has caught up. Whatever advantage he had, whatever degree of separation he created by being such a great martial artist, people have played catch up.”
He went on to say that he wants the bout to prove that he has leapfrogged “Rush” as the greatest welterweight of all time.
“I think I’ve surpassed him. He was a person I looked up to but skill for skill, mindset, explosion, power, wrestling ability, timing, strategy, all those things. I feel like I’ve surpassed Georges, and that’s why I want to go out there to fight him and prove it.”
