UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley took a seat at the analyst desk when former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos earned a decision win over former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler at UFC On Fox 26.
Despite a good win for Dos Anjos, one person who wasn’t too impressed by what he saw was Woodley.
“I just think when you come to this welterweight level, you’re dealing with a different type of power,” Woodley said to MMA Fighting. “I feel like strategically, those guys look good, because the idea of a good fight to fans is a teeter-tottering, back-and-forth war. But when you got a guy that’s known for his jiu-jitsu, leg kicks and takedowns and he doesn’t use those when those are there, it’s not that great of a performance. When you got Robbie against the Octagon and he’s throwing punches in bunches and he’s swinging, hitting elbows and hitting with MMA gloves, yeah he threw 100 punches, but how many actually landed? How many did significant damage? If I get Robbie against the cage, it’s gonna take a couple and he’s gonna go down. Put Stephen [Thompson] against the cage, it took a couple and he went down. Nate Marquardt. Anybody, in win or defeat, if I see the chin and I hit it, they go down.”
Woodley hasn’t been seen in the Octagon since UFC 214, but recently did undergo shoulder surgery in December.
The UFC Welterweight Champion would rather not fight Dos Anjos next because he has a different kind of opponent in mind.
“I’m looking forward to fighting people who their brands are larger than mine. I’m not looking to bring somebody up,” Woodley said. “I’m in a position where I did that already. I’ve already sought out to fight the guy with a brand, so that I could project myself and bring myself up. I’m just not interested in promoting other people, man. I worked so hard to self-promote myself. I don’t have no agent. I’m out there in these streets and I’m hustling. Until someone can show me they’re doing the same thing or truly deserve the No. 1 contender, I’m good.”
It is unknown at this time who Woodley is going to fight next, but he has stated after the surgery that a return to action would take place in early 2018.
