Tyron Woodley has sympathy for Demian Maia, kind of.
“The Chosen One” is well aware of Maia’s rough spot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) welterweight division. Few would deny that Maia is worthy of a shot at 170-pound gold. He was promised a title opportunity, but instead Woodley has a title rematch with Stephen Thompson and Maia has been booked to face Jorge Masvidal on May 13.
In a session with the media (via MMAJunkie.com), Woodley said he’s been in a similar situation that Maia finds himself in now:
“Part of me wants to feel bad and have compassion for Demian Maia. The other part of me – I’ve been in four No. 1 contendership fights. If Carlos Condit had beat me he would have immediately fought for a title shot. Rory MacDonald beat me, fought for a title shot. If Kelvin Gastelum beat me they said he would have fought for a title shot. So I’ve been in that position enough to know that he has to do something different for himself.”
Part of the reason Woodley feels Maia hasn’t been given his due are the fans. The reigning welterweight king feels nowadays fans want to see exciting knockout finishes over elite level jiu-jitsu.
“Unfortunately the sport of mixed martial arts has turned to where the fans want to see you get knocked the hell out and cut open and get in these wars. They don’t respect his art. He’s one of the best grapplers in the UFC right now, and they don’t respect his art that he brings to the table. That’s not my job to go and promote him. I have a hard enough time promoting myself.”
“The Chosen One” puts his title up for grabs against “Wonderboy” this Saturday night (March 4) inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
