UFC champ Tyron Woodley warns Stephen Thompson ‘to be careful what you ask for’

Although Tyron Woodley campaigned for super fights with Nick Diaz and Georges St-Pierre, the welterweight champion will settle for a rematch against Stephen Thompson at UFC 209.

The bout was officially confirmed by the UFC on Tuesday and will take place on March 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Woodley, who crushed Robbie Lawler with an overhand right to pick up the 170 lbs title at UFC 201, retained the belt after fighting Thompson to a draw last year. The 34-year-old had been announced as the winner but, in one of the UFC’s biggest blunders which saw Bruce Buffer read out the wrong result, commentator Joe Rogan had to tell Woodley that the fight was actually scored a draw.

The Missouri-born fighter says that Thompson got under his skin so much that he eventually agreed to a rematch, and warned his opponent that he should be careful what he asks for.

“He got under my skin so much that I’m just going to go ahead and fight the dude,” Woodley said on the newest edition of “The Morning Wood Show” podcast, per Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie. “He got under my skin that bad where I don’t even care about the ration and the money and what fight makes the most sense. You need to be careful what you ask for. ‘Wonderboy,’ if you want it, come get it. You want to fight? You want to get done worse than you did the first time? Some people have got to be real careful.”

Woodley, who has only lost twice under the UFC banner, believes that Thompson is ‘entitled’ and says the Karate-based fighter is in for a rude awakening on March 4.

“He’s going to get in that octagon, and he’s going to be in for a rude awakening because if he thought that was something the last time, I’m going all the way up,” Woodley said. “I want him to tremble when I walk past him and him have a flashback of when I knocked him to the canvas and he woke up and the referee was counting ‘A-B-C, 1-2-3’ with him. I’m just tired of these guys that just feel entitled.”

UFC 209 is also expected to feature a top contender’s bout between lightweight standouts Khabib Nurmagomdov and Tony Ferguson, the winner of which will go on to face Conor McGregor for the official title.