Tyron Woodley discusses next title defense

This past weekend, on the main card of UFC 211, top ranked UFC prospect Demian Maia picked up a win over Jorge Masvidal to extend his win streak to 7, and cement his place as the UFC welterweight #1 contender. With his win over Masvidal, Maia now has likely secured himself a fight for the UFC welterweight championship.

With that being said however, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley still has his eyes on another opponent while Maia takes some time off following his win over Masvidal.

Woodley spoke to ESPN about his next title defense:

“I think those fights are way more real than you guys realize,” Woodley said of St-Pierre and Diaz. “I was teasing everyone for several weeks, but that wasn’t for giggles. Those are realistic options that could make Demian Maia take a back seat for a little bit.”

With that being said of course, UFC lightweight Nate Diaz recently revealed that he and his brother have quite the busy race schedule coming up with triathlons. Diaz then revealed that as a result he will be taking the rest of 2017 off, meaning Nick Diaz likely will as well.

In reagards to a fight with Maia, Woodley spoke about the stylistic matchup, saying:

“He is one of the last specialists in the UFC. He and Stephen Thompson are two of the last specialists in the sport and they just so happen to be in my weight class, right near the top. Training for Wonderboy’s karate, two times in a row — they were the most annoying camps of my life. He’s so good at what he does.”

“I was a little frustrated with people at the FOX studios this weekend. They were laughing and jumping on my back like Maia does in fights. When I fight these specialists, I can’t be free in camp. I can’t be free in a fight. I can’t fight the way I normally would against a traditional, freestyle fighter. Now, I might have to go back to a similar training camp.”

on 5/16/2017.