Former UFC champion Tyron Woodley says he wants to punish social media influencer [YouTuber] Jake Paul tonight in their fight headliner on Showtime PPV at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
Woodley believes the only reason he got this eight round fight with Jake, 24, is because they think he’s a shot fighter because he’s lost his last four fights. But he’s going to show them how wrong they were in picking him.
A big factor in why Woodley has struggled is that he’s had to cut 35 lbs to trim down from a lean 205 lbs to get down to his fighting weight of 170 lbs for his contests in the UFC.
With tonight’s fight taking place at cruiserweight, Woodley, 40, hasn’t had to take off weight, and he believes he’ll be stronger for it.
There’s no way of knowing how Paul (3-0, 3 KOs) will do tonight against the best opponent of his short one-year pro boxing career. Jake’s past opposition has been too poor to gauge whether he’ll be able to handle the massive step up in class.
Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley – what time does it start?
Woodley and Jake Paul are expected to make their ring entrances at roughly 10:30 p.m. ET tonight on August 29.
“Jake was a fan of mine, him and his brother Logan,” said Tyron Woodley to BT Sport Boxing. “The reason you took the fight is that you thought I was old.
“You thought I was washed. You thought you could go in and get a fight based on my last performances, but you thought wrong.
“You signed yourself up to get hurt. I went into the locker room, and now I know the person who cranked me because I just saw the vlog video,” said Woodley.
Jake is putting his unbeaten record on the line against a fighter angry with him over being cranked called on the phone. Woodley also wants to thrash Jake about comments he made about his mom.
Last year, Jake made a name for himself as a boxer in stopping 36-year-old former NBA player Nate Robinson in the second round on the undercard of Mike Tyson vs. Roy Jones Jr.
From there, Jake stopped former UFC champion Ben Askren in the first round last April.
While Woodley’s UFC career has tanked since 2018, he’s still a dangerous fighter, and we don’t know what we’ll get from him tonight because he doesn’t have to cut weight, and he’s boxing instead of fighting in the octagon.
Woodley lost his last four fights against these MMA fighters:
- Vincente Luque
- Colby Covington
- Gilbert Burns
- Kamaru Usman
How to watch Jake Paul vs. Tyron Woodley?
Tonights’ Jake – Woodley fight will be shown on Showtime PPV for $59.99 and on BT Sport Box Office.
“He came up and said, ‘You don’t know nothing about these gloves.’ I don’t play these games,” said Woodley about him having words with Jake in the locker room before his fight with Ben Askren last April.
“Jake Paul took the clout from his brother. They don’t care. They steal the clout from each other. I said, ‘Let’s do it MMA.’ I wanted to hit him with an elbow and make him bleed, but they didn’t want to do it.
“He picked the tougher opponent for more money. I got a chance to show people I’m a star for real.
“Whether I got the chance to show it there [with the UFC] or not, right now I’m about to turn up. I’m about to go big in all areas and aspects of life. I’m trying to go big.
“This is the first time people are seeing me with a strong press conference. I always had the ability. Somebody said to me, ‘How did you age backwards?’
“I don’t even know. I don’t have to cut weight,” said Woodley when asked how much he weighs. I’m going to be right there.
“I don’t have to cut none. I was 205 lbs, and I was lean & ripped. I was killing myself to get down to 170.
“I know this fight can do that to me times 10,” said Woodley about his popularity going through the roof to the level of fighters like Nate Diaz if he beats Jake Paul tonight.
“Now it’s my job to deal with the money the right way and deal with the fame. He’s got every necklace he owns around his neck.
“I’ve got jewelry. I’m light now. It’s going to be a movie, and I’m going to be the director of the movie.
“It’s going to be crazy destruction. When you come at my mom, it’s personal. It was already personal, but they shall see,” said Tyron Woodley.
LOL how have the Yanks been tricked into paying $60 (£50?) for this farce? Or even great PPV cards for that matter – none have been worth that for years! Maybe with 3 or 4 great title fights (not including women, obs).