‘Stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready.’ It looks Tyron Woodley has been sticking to this quote in late 2021.
For the former UFC Champion, this would not be all for nothing. It was revealed earlier this week that Tommy Fury was out of his boxing match against Jake Paul. Fury suffered a rib injury and was unable to make it to the dance against Paul, which was scheduled for December 18th.
Showtime Boxing was in desperate need for a new opponent. Thankfully, it would come with a game Tyron Woodley, who accepted a Paul rematch almost immediately.
‘T-Wood’ has been campaigning for a rubber match with Paul ever since he lost a split decision to him back in August. Woodley would even get a ‘I love Jake Paul’ tattoo on his skin as a means to get the fight. The new ink would eventually pay off, after the two put the pen to paper to fight each other again.
Woodley might have less than 2 weeks notice to officially prep for Paul, but it turns out ‘The Chosen One’ had a feeling he was going to get chosen again by Paul. While Fury was originally scheduled to face ‘The Problem Child’, Woodley would be in the gym working in the small chance he could rematch Paul, should Fury be out.
Call Woodley ‘Nostradamus’, because his gut feeling was right. (h/t Fighthype)
“I want to let you guys know I’m excited about this fight,” Woodley said on Instagram. “I also want to let you guys know that something told me – end of September, beginning of October I told my boxing coach, ‘My spirit ain’t sitting right. The fight that’s supposed to happen is me and Jake. This Tommy Fury fight doesn’t even make f*cking sense. Like, who gives a f*ck about that fight? Nobody do.’
“I told my coach that and I didn’t just speak it and tell him that, I said, watch what I’m telling you. I told my strength and conditioning coach and my boxing coach, ‘This fight ain’t gonna happen. Let’s train as if we are fighting for this f*cking fight.’ I flew him in from Miami – my strength and conditioning coach is already in St. Louis – and I literally started training.”
Woodley’s spirit would not fail his time around. The former UFC king’s instinct would have him train for months for Paul. Thankfully, it wasn’t all for nothing.
“One thing I know for sure, my spirit has never been f*cking wrong,” Woodley said. “My intuition, my alignment, so when I got the call it was kind of funny, because sometimes people call you and they think you out of shape. They think you fat and they think you greasy and they think you not ready. I was ready and I’m so thankful.
“I’m f*cking in shape, I’m ready to f*cking go. I sparred 12 rounds the other day, I sparred 7 rounds last night around the same time I’m gonna fight, midnight-1 am. I’m f*cking excited and I’m thankful and I’m blessed. I’m blessed for the opportunity and I promise you, I didn’t even hesitate. That motherf*cker can say a lot of shit, if you ask the people, when they asked me, within moments, ‘Yes’ was the first thing that came out of my mouth. ‘What the f*ck you mean? Yeah.”
This time, Tyron Woodley will look to have this fight with no controversy, leaving no doubt he is the clear winner. It wouldn’t work in August as he was edged out on the scorecards over 8 rounds. Woodley looks to right this wrong.
“No doubt, no controversy. No bullsh*t, no shenanigans.” Woodley added. “He’s going to f*cking sleep. I promise you that.”
