Former UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley held the title from UFC 201 in July of 2016 to UFC 235 in March of 2019.
It seemed like the former champion enjoyed his time as a title holder, even outside of the Octagon, as Woodley admits to blowing through a lot of money during the title reign.
“I blew through a lot of fucking money, man,” Woodley said on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (via Zane Simon of Bloody Elbow). “A lot. A lot of money. And I was—jewelry and VIP and all these experiences, all these things that came with the championship life. You really – when you come from where I come from – you never imagine making that type of money; you never imagine being in that type of position. You work hard for it – and I didn’t get there by accident (because I was busting my ass) – but nobody taught me finance. Everybody taught me 1+1 is 2. That’s math. That ain’t finance. That ain’t wealth, that ain’t investing, that ain’t saving, that ain’t tax. That’s basically: you made money and, fucking, you spend it. Because when I was growing up, we spent it when it came in. My mom’s check was already cut up, it was done before she even got it. She had to pick which utility bills was not gonna be on that, that month. And it was something that I didn’t recognize, as a kid, that it wasn’t normal. I thought everybody had to do that.”
While the former champion lost a lot of money during the welterweight title run, it is going to be chalked up as a lesson learned by Woodley.
“So, when you started making money? I bought, like, seven cars and, fucking, two houses—and all these trips. And nobody ever lifted a fucking hand when we was at a restaurant; 10-15 people went to dinner. And I was going to VIP clubs and all this shit, like, every other week. And I just imagined making that amount of money for a very long time. And they very quickly said, ‘Poof!’ Damn! I’m on it like, ‘You gonna tell me, March 3rd, that this is different? It’s not the same?’ And it’s just a lesson learned,” says Woodley.
UFC Fight Night London takes place on Saturday, March 21 from the 02 Arena in London, England with Tyron Woodley and Leon Edwards headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which streams live on ESPN+.
