Tyron Woodley Explains Why Guys Like Georges St-Pierre and Conor McGregor Won’t Fight Him

Tyron Woodley used to attempt to call his shots when trying to line up his opponents but those requests often times fell on deaf ears.

Just after knocking out Robbie Lawler to become UFC welterweight champion, Woodley started talking about facing fighters such as Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz — opponents who would not only add a few zeroes to his bank account but also give him much higher profile when it comes to his resume.

Unfortunately every time Woodley called somebody out, he never seemed to get that opponent so over the past year or so, he’s just stopped bothering to even ask.

Fresh off his first round drubbing of Darren Till at UFC 228, Woodley isn’t asking to fight anybody no matter how many times he’s asked about a potential showdown against St-Pierre, who is widely regarded as the best welterweight fighter of all time.

St-Pierre has said repeatedly that he’s only interested in fights that will add to his legacy but Woodley believes there’s an entire different reason behind his disinterest in the matchup.

The same goes for somebody like Conor McGregor, who had teased the possibility of pursuing a third UFC title after he became featherweight and lightweight champion back in 2016.

“We all know why. People can always act like they’ll fight anybody, any time until it’s time to fight me,” Woodley told ‘Sway’s Universe’ after his latest title defense. “I can name five or six people ‘I’ll fight anybody, any time’. Nate Diaz, Nick Diaz, Michael Bisping, Georges St-Pierre, Conor McGregor. All had the opportunity, all was given the chance to fight me, none of them accepted.

“They’re scared to lose to somebody that name recognition is going grow after I whoop their ass. If Georges St-Pierre is going to lose, he wants to lose to somebody basically ‘oh I fought in a different weight class, I’ve been out for X amount of years, I lost to Bisping, it’s not that [big a deal]’. He comes back to his old weight class and gets worked over by the new school, that’s going to be a problem.”

While he mentioned Nate and Nick Diaz amongst the fighters who he claims have ducked him, Woodley actually circled back by saying that he’s actually a big fan of the Stockton, Calif. natives.

Woodley added that Nate Diaz would have absolutely faced him last December when the UFC was pursuing that possible matchup but the promotion wasn’t ready to pay him what he wanted to step into a welterweight title fight of that magnitude.

“I like the Diaz brothers, I like Nate and Nick,” Woodley said. “I like how they fight and how real they are. They aren’t paying these guys. Nate accepted the fight against me. He accepted the fight but he wants to get paid and he should get paid. They didn’t pay him.”

As far as what comes next, Woodley is just waiting for the call from the UFC and he’s not going to acknowledge anybody as the No. 1 contender for the title until bout agreements have been issued and signed.

Right now it would seem Woodley is on a collision course with former teammate Colby Covington but as of yet there’s been no confirmation from the UFC that the fight is going to be scheduled before the end of the year.