For much of last year, the UFC welterweight title picture was dominated by the rivalry between welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson. After a pair of controversial fights, Woodley retained the belt and now the UFC’s 170-pound division can return to regularly scheduled business. And while a year ago, the assumption would have been that Woodley would now be facing Demian Maia, but that potential bout is in doubt because Maia is set to fight Jorge Masvidal next weekend at UFC 211.
On the UFC Unfiltered podcast recently, Woodley spoke about what he called Maia’s “bad move” in accepting a non-title fight and why he thinks the bout is so risky for the BJJ world champion.