UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley believes that the sport of mixed martial arts is departing from its roots. “The Chosen One” recently discussed aspects of MMA he believes is giving the sport a bad name, such as athletes not taking competition seriously and the age of trash talking making self-promotion more important than merit.
Surprisingly to many, Woodley admitted that he is not a big fan of fighting or the shape of the sport in 2018:
“I don’t really even like fighting, to be honest,” Woodley told viewers and listeners of the Joe Rogan MMA Show podcast recently. “I’m just good at it.
“I don’t like the politics behind it, I don’t like the martial arts aspect that’s been taken away from it; I don’t like the disrespect to the sport. Guys that are not really training hard; they don’t look the part. I think a professional athlete should look a certain way. I really just don’t like this generation of fighters that watch a move on TV, on YouTube, and they go in and try to do it. They don’t drill repetitions; they don’t want to actually put in the work.”
Woodley also took time to aim shots at UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor:
“If a guy talks enough sh*t and starts wearing fly suits, then this day and age, that’s good enough for a title shot,” Woodley added. “And I think that’s disrespectful to everybody that came before when you had to go 10-0 to get the f**king call from the UFC. (Today), if Conor McGregor wanted Artem Lobov in the UFC, he’s gonna be in the UFC.”
