Tyron Woodley says beef with Dana White has been squashed
The relationship between UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Dana White has always appeared to be a bit on the frosty side. However, things went south in a hurry after Woodley’s unanimous decision victory over Demian Maia at UFC 214 was panned by White and led to the UFC president handing Woodley’s fight with Georges St-Pierre to Michael Bisping.
Woodley — who prematurely announced during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan that he would be facing St-Pierre — was none too happy about the bait-and-switch and took to “The MMA Hour” on Monday demanding a public apology and threatened to start “leaking some [expletive] that people don’t want to be out in the wind” if he didn’t get one. But, according to Woodley, the feud was short lived and cooler heads have prevailed.
“There was some yelling back and forth,” Woodley said in an interview with ESPN. “At the end of the conversation, I felt pretty comfortable. It ended on a positive note. Two men can talk on the phone and maybe not agree on everything, but at least respect each other.”
Woodley admits that he let his emotions get the best of him after White pulled away the high-profile fight with St-Pierre due to the lack of action in Woodley’s fight with Maia and his previous showdown with Stephen Thompson. He came into his fight with Maia at UFC 214 under the assumption that he would defend his title against the returning GSP. However, White was unhappy with Woodley’s performances and decided to go with Bisping. And that decision was announced to the world before Woodley knew what had happened.
“I still feel he should apologize publicly, but I’m not going to hold my breath,” Woodley said. “The conversation ended with respect and that was really my goal. Dana knows all about talking off emotion. I went a little [crazy] and was talking off emotion, too. Did I really plan on leaking stuff? Probably not. But at the time, I was mad and it sounded good.”
Woodley’s immediate future remains up in the air as he’s not sure whether or not he will need surgery on the shoulder he injured during the Maia fight. But he’s pretty sure his future plans won’t include St-Pierre.
“I want Georges to know there’s no shame in his game,” Woodley said. “I’m not saying he’s scared. He’s not coming back for a belt or to be the best. He’s coming back for big-money fights. He sees a sport in which he helped the pay-per-view model grow and he wants to get on it. There’s no shame in that. But don’t say you’re here for any other reason.”
