EXCLUSIVE | Tyron Woodley explains why Nate Diaz was his only option for UFC 219

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will not be fighting Nate Diaz or any other opponent at December’s UFC 219 event in Las Vegas.

The Diaz vs. Woodley bout was first reported to be in the works earlier this month. Unfortunately, Nate’s financial demands for the fight proved to be too much and the proposed bout was eventually scrapped entirely.

“The Chosen One” recently spoke to BJPENN.com’s Chris Taylor where he revealed why a scrap with “The Stockton Slugger” was his only option for the UFC 219 event.

“Fighting at UFC 219 was a Nate Diaz or nothing situation for me. You know mentally I was already rehabbing my shoulder. I was trying to see if I could go the stem cell and rehab route versus the surgical route. And thinking about all of the guys in my weight class that are coming up have the wrestling background and what not, it is tough to fight those guys with a shoulder that is unstable. There is a lot of under hooking, clinching, wrist control, breaking locks and close quarter static wrestling that you need your shoulder to be one hundred percent for. Nate (Diaz) just wasn’t that type of opponent. I felt like it would have been a tough fight and a stand up war. It would have been a nice handsome payday for myself. It would have also directly connected me to potential fights with Conor (McGregor) and maybe Nick Diaz. He probably would have wanted to try and avenge his baby brothers loss. So it was a strategic play for me that made sense and I said ‘I’m in’. I’m really surprised Nate didn’t take the fight though. Especially with the knowledge that I was hurt and might need surgery.”

With the Nate Diaz fight no longer an option, Tyron Woodley has elected to have shoulder surgery next month.

“So I am going to go ahead and get the shoulder surgery in December. Right now it is scheduled for the nineteenth. My manager wants me to get it sooner. So I might try and bump it up to December seventh.”

Taylor asked Woodley how long the surgery will keep him on the sidelines and when fight fans can expect to see “The Chosen One” back inside the octagon.

“I will probably be one hundred percent after three or four months. Technology is just so different now and it doesn’t take nearly as long to rehab the injuries. So I expect that I will be back in April or May.”

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