The “Face Turn” of Woodley

 

I’d like to begin by apologising to the MMA purists for the title of this piece, some of you guys hate it when I use pro-wrestling terminology in MMA posts.  Having said that, you have to admit, it seems the tide has begun to turn on the way the MMA community perceives Tyron Woodley.  The reigning welterweight champion has finally begun to get his dues from fans and the press.  I’d be a liar if I sat here and told you guys I felt this change in attitude is long overdue.  Hell, I myself struggled to warm to the man outside the cage, even though I have the utmost respect for his craft within it…so what’s changed I hear you ask?  Let me explain.

The general consensus on Tyron Woodley since the Wonderboy rematch was; T-Wood is a boring fighter who loves to moan.  I’ve always found the ‘boring fighter’ tag massively unfair.  I appreciate the Maia fight wasn’t the most exhilarating and the aforementioned Wonderboy rematch didn’t live up to the excitement of the first time they fought.  However, we also need to appreciate the first Woodley Vs Thompson fight did win the fight of the night bonus, as well as the fact T-Wood won the strap by ruthlessly knocking out Robbie Lawler (see what I did there? 😉)

Indeed, before he challenged for the belt, Woodley was billed as an explosive, powerful and fast fighter with monstrous KO power.  So why were we so quick to tar Woodley with the ‘boring’ brush?

I genuinely believe, Woodley’s inability to connect with the fans perpetuated the narrative of him being a boring fighter.  I remember listening to Woodley during press-conferences and interviews, after winning the belt, continually knit-pick and moan.  If it wasn’t about being promoted incorrectly, it was the fact he wasn’t being offered the ‘big money’ fights.  That’s not how I want my champions to conduct themselves!

I’m not here to pass judgement or even comment on the validity of the issues he raised around race and treatment by the UFC, that’s a whole different topic and several cans of worms.  The issue I had was the way he chose to do so.  Constant.  A constant barrage of focusing on external influences on the core of the situation – fighting to remain the best in the world.  I very rarely heard T-Wood speak positively about being the champion or about the sport itself, and that’s where the disparity between fans and champion formed.

During the build-up to the Till fight, however, we saw a different T-Wood.  A Woodley with a “Fuck it” attitude.  A Woodley that knew the deck was stacked against him, but he had the confidence and self-belief to overcome the odds.  A Woodley that knew the UFC wanted him to lose the title but guess what, he wasn’t going to let that happen.

This attitude shone through in his media engagements.  No more moaning and no more acknowledgement of his perceived mistreatment by the UFC.  Just a single-minded focus on beating up a formidable opponent.  We saw a man who kept his cards close to his chest and spoke in a calculated manner using words doused in self-belief forming a compelling argument about why he will remain the UFC Welterweight Champion of the World.

We all know how the fight played out, (If you don’t, why have you even read this far?) and the performance by T-Wood was fitting of the persona of the man during fight week; confident, assured, measured and dominant.

Dana White’s absence from the post-fight press conference after taking every opportunity to berate Woodley before the fight spoke volumes.  It became a news story.  ‘Why didn’t Dana show?’  ‘Is it because he doesn’t want to compliment Woodley?’  ‘Is it because he called Woodley boring before the fight?’  ‘Is it because he said fans don’t like him but there were strong chants of “U-S-A” in support of him during the fight?’  Fact is we don’t know why he chose to give it a miss, but uncle Dana’s absence helped with the shift in attitude towards Tyron Woodley.  A sense of injustice consumed members of MMA media and they set about the journey I’ve been on during this piece; trying to understand why T-Wood was downplayed and misjudged as a champion and as a fighter.

I’m about to use a pro wrestling analogy so MMA purists, skip this paragraph.  We are basically at the precipice of when Vince McMahon (Dana White) began his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin (Tyron Woodley).  Stone Cold was a bad guy who didn’t ‘turn’ good.  His actions remained largely the same.  It’s the fans that started to understand and get behind him.  The fans chose him and cheered him, making him a “face” by proxy.

Woodley is at this precise crossroad and the best thing about it is the fact the UFC have the perfect opponent In Colby Covington to help push Woodley further into the good graces of the MMA community.  it’s just so obvious. A ‘lay-up’ as our American friends like to call an easy opportunity to positively influence a situation.  Queue an Instagram post next week confirming Woodley’s next title defence in February next year in a random city in the States against Kamaru Usman 😐.