During the pre-UFC 177 media scrum in Sacramento, California on Friday evening, UFC President Dana White told members of the MMA media that he was attempting to book a match between top-ranked UFC Welterweight contenders Tyron Woodley and Hector Lombard, both of whom train together at American Top Team in Florida, for a UFC event at the end of the year.
According to White, however, there is an issue on Woodley’s side about fighting his ATT teammate.
White claims that Lombard is not only willing to fight Woodley, but noted that he said Woodley is a “two-faced phony” and that he wants to “beat his ass.”
“I sat down with Woodley after his fight in China,” White said. “And, he won easily, quick in and out. I said listen, we need you again, what do you think about fighting Hector Lombard in Australia, main event. He said ‘that’s my teammate man, I don’t want to fight my teammate.’ I said dude, your teammate, you guys are three of the top five. You have to fight each other.”
White says he spoke with ATT’s founder, Dan Lambert, and he was for the fight as well.
“I talked to Dan Lambert and I said listen, this is the fight I want to make. So Lambert hits me back and says, Lombard’s in, he wants the fight. Still talking to Woodley. He hits me again and says Woodley’s out, Woodley won’t take the fight.”
The UFC President then spoke about a text message he received from Lombard while flying to Sacramento on Friday for this weekend’s UFC 177 pay-per-view.
“I’m literally flying here [to Sacramento], I’m on the plane, I’m wheels up, and I get a text from Hector Lombard that says, ‘please get this Woodley fight done for me, I want this fight so bad, he’s a two-faced phony and I want to beat his ass.’ Literally what he said to me. So I called Woodley when I landed, and said, obviously this isn’t a teammate thing, here’s what your teammate said, and he wants this fight bad. And he said he can say whatever he wants, he’s about him and he’s always about him, this fight doesn’t work for me and my brand. He started telling me all these reasons why he doesn’t want this fight. I said, whatever kid. Do your thing. But he wants nothing to do with Hector.”
Whether or not this fight can ever be made remains to be seen, however for now it appears that White will have to find a different opponent for the former Bellator champion. “Lombard will fight somebody,” White said. “We’ll figure it out.”
You can watch Dana White make these comments and address other current UFC-related topics by checking out the pre-UFC 177 media scrum at the following link: VIDEO: Dana White Comments On Renan Barao Pulling Out Of UFC 177
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