Tyron Woodley has confirmed he will hold talks with Dana White about potentially fighting Jake Paul because he believes the UFC ‘wants this dude shut up.’
Former welterweight champion was in Ben Askren’s corner for his professional boxing debut on Saturday night and watched ‘Funky’ get knocked out inside one round.
The biggest talking after the fight continues to be who will Paul fight next, with Woodley a strong contender after their altercation in the dressing room before the fight.
Speaking to ESPN, ‘The Chosen One’ explained what happened in the underbelly of the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta
He told Ariel Helwani: “Before going out to Atlanta, my mom said, ‘I’m praying for you, I got a feeling somebody is trying to be getting all up in you.’
“So when I went to check Jake’s gloves and the person who had never spoken, ever, walks around and said, ‘You don’t know nothing about these gloves’ and it is in that clip that everybody has seen.
“First thing Jake said to me was, ‘You’re here for clout’. And I said, ‘Don’t play with me, because you know I don’t f****** play those games.’ At that point, he froze up and his little act and his character was stifled. Those guys are fans, he know he doesn’t want to play those f****** games because he knows what I could do.”
“After the fight, he said he wanted to fight me,” he added. “I’m the same weight, you had a lot to say in the locker room, so let’s fight.
“That’s when you hear the crickets, because some people are really built for this and some people are not. It’s not even an MMA fighter fighting a YouTuber – it’s a man fighting a man.
“You’re talking s*** so let’s handle it. And I really don’t think he got the balls, I don’t think he would do it. He didn’t pick out me, he didn’t pick out Conor [McGregor], he didn’t pick out [Jorge] Masvidal, he picked out Ben Askren because he felt like he was not known for his striking.
“Don’t get it twisted; I got my name from gang banging and fighting, I got paid to f*** people up. I was verified on the street before I got verified on Instagram. People know me and my family name from fighting.
“I’m from the murder capital of the US, people don’t play games with me.”
Woodley reigned supreme in the UFC welterweight division for three years as champion, only surrendering the belt to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235.
Although he is on a four-fight losing streak, the veteran remains a dangerous contender at 170lbs and has ferocious striking power.
Woodley is currently in a state of limbo with his contract situation with the UFC, but confirmed he would hold talks with the UFC about potentially crossing over into the world of boxing to face the YouTuber.
“They offered me this fight in November,” he said. “Obviously I couldn’t do it because I am contracted to the UFC.
“But I’m going to have to holler at Dana or somebody. I don’t know how this works out, but let me beat this dude’s a**. Please give me permission.
“I’m going to just talk to them and I think they will see value in it,” he added. “Because I think they want this dude shut up too so that’s probably all I can say about that.
“But I just don’t see them not letting me beat this dude’s a**.”