Tyron Woodley: Road To Stardom

I recently had another chance to speak with top Strikeforce welterweight prospect Tyron Woodley for Tapology in order to discuss his upcoming fight against Rudy Bears tomorrow night on Showtime.

On fight against Bears:

Tapology: You are scheduled to face Rudy Bears in the main event of a Showtime Strikeforce card on
November 20. What do you know about Bears aside from his record?

Woodley: I was actually supposed to make my pro debut against him. He is from a Karate and Kickboxing background, and he finishes most of his opponents, so I’m looking to test myself against an opponent who’s proven that he’s a good striker.

Tapology: Are you looking to challenge yourself on the feet in this fight or do you think the contest is still yours to win once it hits the ground?

Woodley: I think at some point it wouldn’t be a bad idea to hit the ground, but I train to beat the person in every area. I train to win all the battles. If we are wrestling, I might be favored to win the fight because of my background, but if we are standing, I don’t think he will be favored just because of his background. I think I’m stronger and faster, so I think on the fight this will be my fight to win as well.

Tapology: Do you expect to finish Bears?

Woodley: Every fight I look for every opportunity I get to finish the fight. If I don’t finish the fight, I still have enough gas in the tank to give a quality MMA show for the full 15 minutes.

On fighting on CBS in the future:

Tapology: Are you looking to get onto a future CBS card with a dominating performance over Bears, or are you just going to let Strikeforce handle all of that stuff?

Woodley: With promotional companies, if you trust them, you trust them. There are some companies that have a lot of gray area, but with Strikeforce they have delivered on everything they have said. In order for that to continue, I think the only ingredient I need to bring is to win, and win in a dominant fashion. I think everything else is going to fall into place, and I think CBS is not far away. They are not going to take baby steps with me.

On potential match ups in the Strikeforce welterweight division:

Tapology: I wanted to get your thoughts on the Strikeforce welterweight division in general. They just announced the signing of Dream Welterweight Champion Marius Zaromskis. Are you familiar with him?

Woodley: Yeah, the guy who kicks everybody in the head, right?

Tapology: Is that a fight that you would like to get?

Woodley: There are so many guys in that weight class. I don’t mind fighting anybody, but I do believe there is a time in the season for each fight. I am not egotistical enough to say that I’ll fight anybody at any time, but I focus on whether or not each fight makes sense for my career at the time. Some people in the U.S. don’t even know who he is—he won a very prestigious tournament—but a lot of people don’t know who he is. I want to make sure that each fight elevates me.

Tapology: You don’t seem willing to rush into a fight with guys like Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, and Jay Hieron until you believe you are ready for those fights. Do you thin you are ready for that kind of competition right now?

Woodley: I have a family to support and financial goals to meet, so those guys make a very desirable situation for me financially. I’m confident in my skill level; I believe I can go against the top guys, but I think at this point they [Strikeforce] want to take a wise approach to bringing me up. They want the fans to get to know who Tyron Woodley is, and that will make a bigger and more marketable fight with those guys in the future. It will be that much better when I’m on CBS or a bigger card.

I think they realize that this is the best way to bring me up. I am genuine, and I think I represent something different in that fans want to see real, uncut MMA fighters, and I think that’s what they’re going to see in me.

Be sure to read the full interview to get Woodley's thoughts on his last fight against Zach Light, headlining his first Showtime card, and what he thinks will be the biggest danger he will pose to his opponents going forward.