Tag: #ColbyCovington #Covington #Woodley #Welterweight #DosAnjos #RDA

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.

Woodley BlackB

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 😐.

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Confession: I’m a Colby Covington Fan

The title kind of gives what this piece is about away and I feel all the better for it.  I admit it.  I’m a fan.

A year ago, I don’t think I’d ever heard or seen a Covington interview.  If I had, you can’t blame me for the fact I can’t recall it.  I mean, it is an interview at the end of the day.  However, the fact I don’t remember any of his fights before he faced ‘The Stun Gun” Dong Hyun Kim tells a story of its own.

As the decisions made by the judges were read out, the referee raised Covington’s hand, I remember sitting there thinking; “Here we go, what’s this idiot going to say this time?”  It turns out Covington didn’t really say anything too outlandish.  He demanded Dana White give him a title shot and thanked the Singapore crowd in his own unique way.  The fact is though, for the first time, I actually cared about Colby Covington.

Much like the rest of the MMA Twitterverse, during the year between the fight with Kim and the lead up to the Rafael Dos Anjos fight, I despised Covington.  I despised everything about him.  His demeanour at press conferences, his behaviour on Twitter, his words during interviews and his posts on Instagram.  To borrow a phrase from Stone Cold Steve Austin, I just couldn’t wait to see RDA ‘stomp a mudhole in his ass and walk it dry’.

And then something happened.  It clicked.  We live in a world where there is a UFC event around three times a month.  If you add big Bellator and boxing shows to this, there’s basically something happening every weekend that grabs the attention of combat sports fans like myself.  This basically means if a fighter fights say three times in a year, they have three opportunities to take the limelight.

Covington had managed to weave himself into the MMA zeitgeist to a point where he’s either talking or being talked about on a weekly basis.  As UFC 225 approached, it dawned on me, Covington Vs RDA was the fight I was emotionally invested in the most.

There’s an old adage in pro-wrestling that I’ll try to convey without screwing up.  As a wrestler enters the ring, he’s succeeding if the crowd are either booing or cheering.  He needs to worry if they’re indifferent or without an opinion.  Unfortunately, the majority of the UFC roster fall into the camp that “need to worry” in this context.  Covington had managed to navigate his way from this group of fighters and into the small minority that manages to garner an emotional reaction.

One of the things that irked me about Covington was the fact it was plain to see he was playing a character.  During the road to the RDA fight, I remember watching Covington in interviews and I noticed moments where Covington let his ‘heel’ persona slip.  A wry smile here, or a stutter there, I could tell Covington wasn’t “keeping it real”.  It annoyed me that Covington had essentially talked his way into an interim title fight and I didn’t believe he deserved it.

All that disappeared when I watched the ceremonial weigh-ins for UFC 225.  As Covington approached the scales, he got the biggest reaction from the crowd that day, albeit a chorus of boos.  What actually changed my mind about Covington was what happened next.  As RDA approached the stage, he received the biggest ovation I’ve ever heard any crowd give him.  RDA, who in my opinion, falls in the “needs to worry” camp had entered the realm which Covington occupies and become a “face” by proxy.  Covington had actually elevated RDA’s profile just because of the sheer hate people have for him.  I was impressed.

Covington eventually won the fight and I watched his post-fight interview and press conference with interest.  He seemed more familiar with the character he was playing and smoother on the mic.  He exuded the kind of brash confidence all good “bad guys” need and had backed it up with his performance earlier that night.

As the conversation turned to a unification bout with Woodley, Covington dismissed him as a challenger to his belt…and I got to thinking.  Thinking about how excited I am to watch this fight and how much I want Woodley to win.  Which is when the penny finally dropped.  When Covington was calling for a title fight six months prior, I really didn’t care to see this fight happen.  Now though, I’d go as far as to say it’s one of the fights I’m anticipating the most.  Why? Because of Colby “Chaos” Covington.

It’s a big ask trying to make people like you.  Woodley and Cormier have had their fair share of troubles in this pursuit.  Covington however, went a completely different route.  By playing a pantomime villain, he’s made the MMA community universally hate him.  He’s made us all want to see someone beat him which means we all will be tuning into his next fight.  And for that reason, I’m a fan.

 

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