Tyron Woodley explains why he respects Mike Perry more than any other welterweight contender

When UFC welterweight king Tyron Woodley looks over the jam-packed list of welterweight contenders, there’s one fighter on the list who has truly won his respect. That fighter is rising knockout artist “Platinum” Mike Perry.

“The only guy that I respect who talks stuff about me is Mike Perry,” Woodley said on the Fight Strength Podcast this week (via MMAUno.com). “Mike Perry pulled up on me, to my face and not only did he pull up on me, he came to a seminar that I was teaching and he took the seminar. He took the seminar, learned some stuff and he said, ‘Hey man, I’m coming for your belt man.’

“Those are the guys that I love facing across the Octagon, the ones that have some respect for martial arts. If you can pull up to me and tell me to my face that you’re coming for my belt, now I got you, now you got my respect. Those are the guys that I want to see come to the top.”

“He’s been respectful with [his talk about me],” Woodley said. “I’m a straight guy to, so I’m like hey, if I look at the division, he’s probably the guy I respect the most in the division. He might not have the greatest ground and he may just be getting to the point where he’s refining his technique and his aggression and he’s being a little smarter with it.”

While Woodley has respect for Mike Perry, that respect does not extend to Colby Covington, who has been talking ceaseless trash over recent months.

“I don’t even know who that guy is,” Woodley joked. “I only focus on guys that are in contention and world class athletes. When I’m looking down my scope to snipe somebody I don’t see Colby Covington in the mix.”

How do you think a fight between Tyron Woodley and Mike Perry would unfold? How about a fight between Woodley and Colby Covington?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 10/1/2017.