Tyron Woodley: “pound-for-pound, I’m the hardest punching fighter in the entire UFC”

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has knocked a lot of people out. He’s knocked even more people down, some of them multiple times in a single fight. Needless to say, the champ hits incredibly hard.

If you ask Woodley himself, he’s probably the hardest hitter in the UFC, pound-for-pound – especially now that the brick-fisted Anthony “Rumble” Johnson has called it a career.

Woodley explained why he believes he has a claim to the title of the UFC’s hardest hitter during a recent appearance on BJ Penn Radio.

“I think pound-for-pound, I’m the hardest-punching fighter in the entire UFC,” the champ explained. “I think Anthony “Rumble” Johnson was, before he retired, but if you think about how much I weigh, how big of a punch I pack, how many people I’ve knocked down or knocked out, I think it’s very hard to argue. I’m probably the hardest punching fighter in the UFC. As far as explosion, there’s very few guys that can get from zero to a hundred the way that I can.”

Woodley then explained how his reputation as a wickedly hard puncher will affect the game plan of his UFC 214 opponent, grappling star Demian Maia.

“[Maia] recognizes that [I’m a hard hitter],” he said. “So with that said, it’s not going to be very hard for me to prepare for him. I know he’s knows that. I know he’s a world class fighter for a reason. He’s going to come out, and he’s going to do everything he can to limit my space, to stop allowing me to be fast, allowing me to punch. He’s going to try to get in my face, he’s going to try to bring it to the mat. It makes more sense for him, earlier in the round, when there’s less sweat, when there’s less fatigue, to really go for broke to try to get me down on the ground. I just plan on making him come up short.”

Do you think Tyron Woodley is the hardest hitter, pound-for-pound, in the UFC today?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/6/2017.