Tyron Woodley has a message to MMA Fans: All love
Often criticized for complaining too frequently, in a live chat with fans, Tyron Woodley acknowledges that, as a human, he comes with his set of flaws and is also aware of the perception many MMA fans have of him:
“I ain’t perfect. I’ve complained: ‘Oh, these people…everybody’s against me and everybody…’ I know, one, you fans don’t want to hear that sh*t. Definitely, ya’ll don’t want to hear that.”
Woodley has also been criticized for some of the fights he has sought, such as a title fight with unranked welterweight Nate Diaz:
“That’s why I ain’t say who I want to fight. Ya’ll don’t want to hear who I want to fight. Some people get that pass. You want to hear fighters call out another fighter. It’s just been statistically proven that the fans don’t want to hear Tyron Woodley say who he wants to fight. Ya’ll just want me to fight anybody, anytime, anywhere, no matter who.”
Although there seemed to be an undertone of frustration in the voice of the welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley insists it’s all love, calling for a hashtag of #Allloveallweek for anybody who is being tried and tested by life, haters, or any of the outside noise encountered along one’s path:
“If you going through drama, if you going through people lying on you, people hating on you, just know that your brothers and sisters are going through the same thing. You’re gonna make it through. Everything subsides.
“All love all week. So when somebody gets in your face; your boss piss you off; dude tries to go too hard in sparring, ya’ll supposed to be going light; you don’t get the fight you want; you don’t get the promotion you want; somebody cuts you off in traffic; your damn gas gets cut off and you feel like you can’t make it: All Love All Week.
Woodley describes All Love All Week as a way to kill others with kindness or silence and remaining balanced and composed amidst external or internal conflicts. And if one is able to make it a week, why stop there?
“I dare you to incorporate #Allloveallweek. And if you can make it a week, roll that b*tch over to the next week. #Allloveallweek again, run it back. If you can do it again, sh*t, All Love All Month. And if you really G, All Love All Year.”
Woodley continues with a positive message to fans: know yourself and do not allow yourself to be defined by others.
“All love all week. If you guys see the fucking DMs I get daily: straight hate, straight, n*gger this, straight, monkey this,’ straight, ‘you suck,’ ‘you horrible,’ ‘your mom…’ can’t nobody tell me who I am. Can’t nobody tell you who you are. If you let a freakin’ phrase, paragraph, sentence, or somebody’s voice dictate who you are, you don’t know who you are then. Learn who you are. Learn who the hell you are, then nobody can tell you anything different.”
Who Tyron Woodley is is the reigning UFC welterweight champion. This weekend in Chile, a potential future challenger to his throne, Kamaru Usman, will square off against a man Woodley defeated by unanimous decision at UFC 214. And later this month, another man everyone has their eye on who could soon be challenging for the championship, Darren Till, will also face a contender Woodley has defeated, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. And finally, at UFC 225 on June 9th, Rafael dos Anjos will battle Colby Covington for the interim welterweight title, something Woodley is still finding difficulty understanding:
“That’s really weird for me that they’re fighting for an interim title. I haven’t said much about it. I know you fans are going to be like, ‘Oh, Tyron’s probably going to be pissed.’ I’m not really mad because what does it mean? We all know who the real world champion is. And the real world champion can fight in June, July, or August. So the fact that the interim fight is happening makes no sense at all.”
Woodley provides UFC 227 in the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles on August 4th as the preferred date of his return. Who do you think would be waiting for him on the other end of the Octagon?
