When he steps into the cage on November 20 against Rudy Bears in the main event of Strikeforce’s ShoMMA 5 card at the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas, Tyron Woodley will not only be looking to maintain his undefeated record since going pro earlier this year, he will also be looking to establish himself as the top prospect in the promotion’s expanding welterweight division. While Bears will be the most experienced opponent he has faced to this point in his career, Woodley is confident that his experience training behind the scene for years, combined with his well-rounded skill set, will prove too much for the local fan-favorite.
Woodley recently spoke with Tapology’s Steven Kelliher to discuss his training heading into his main event debut, his thoughts on his last fight against Zach Light, and his plans to eventually challenge the top names in his division in the years to come.
Tapology: I wanted to start by getting your thoughts on your last fight against Zach Light in September?
Woodley: It went pretty much the way I thought it would go. I knew he was a tough guy looking at his record, I expected him to come out hard, but I thought it would be more difficult to take him down. I think mixing in my strikes the way I did made it a lot easier.
Tapology: Were you happy with your performance overall?
Woodley: I was happy with my performance. I landed some good strikes and takedowns, but I could have done better. I have never arm barred anybody in a fight, so it was good to pull that out for the victory; it showed me that I can be diverse and mix it up in there.
Tapology: It was recently reported that you would be moving camp to the American Top Team gym in Florida. Is that true?
Woodley: I think that was a bit of a misunderstanding. I have been fighting for ATT for pretty much my whole career, but I’ve been training at a satellite school. For this fight, some of the guys from that gym are coming up here to get me ready for my next fight.
Tapology: You are scheduled to face Rudy Bears in the main event of a Showtime Strikeforce card on November 20. What do you know about Bears aside from his record?
Woodley: I was actually supposed to make my pro debut against him. He is from a Karate and Kickboxing background, and he finishes most of his opponents, so I’m looking to test myself against an opponent who’s proven that he’s a good striker.
Tapology: Are you looking to challenge yourself on the feet in this fight or do you think the contest is still yours to win once it hits the ground?
Woodley: I think at some point it wouldn’t be a bad idea to hit the ground, but I train to beat the person in every area. I train to win all the battles. If we are wrestling, I might be favored to win the fight because of my background, but if we are standing, I don’t think he will be favored just because of his background. I think I’m stronger and faster, so I think on the fight this will be my fight to win as well.
Tapology: Do you expect to finish Bears?
Woodley: Every fight I look for every opportunity I get to finish the fight. If I don’t finish the fight, I still have enough gas in the tank to give a quality MMA show for the full 15 minutes.
Tapology: This is going to be the fifth pro fight for you in 2009. Do you attribute that activity to not taking much damage in your fights thus far, or is this how you see the rest of your career progressing?
Woodley: I think that’s exactly what it is—not taking much damage, paying attention to my body in training. Today, my body said, ‘You need the day off, you’ve been pushing yourself hard for weeks.’ 70-80% of injuries come from training, not from the fights themselves. With that being said, you need to train hard and push yourself, but you also have to be able to walk into that cage and compete.
As long as Strikeforce keeps me going, I’ll be ready to fight. I’m getting some momentum going, and when I was a wrestler, I would wrestle over 100 matches a year, so if I’m in shape and my body feels good, I’m already in shape, so why not go again? I would love to get another five fights next year; that would be awesome.
Tapology: How big is it for you to be headlining this Showtime card?
Woodley: Man, I really don’t get into the hype. I’ve been training behind the scenes more than people realize, and I’m just getting the opportunities now, and I want to make the best of it. I’m not really concerned with that stuff.
Tapology: Are you looking to get onto a future CBS card with a dominating performance over Bears, or are you just going to let Strikeforce handle all of that stuff?
Woodley: With promotional companies, if you trust them, you trust them. There are some companies that have a lot of gray area, but with Strikeforce they have delivered on everything they have said. In order for that to continue, I think the only ingredient I need to bring is to win, and win in a dominant fashion. I think everything else is going to fall into place, and I think CBS is not far away. They are not going to take baby steps with me.
Tapology: I wanted to get your thoughts on the Strikeforce welterweight division in general. They just announced the signing of Dream Welterweight Champion Marius Zaromskis. Are you familiar with him?
Woodley: Yeah, the guy who kicks everybody in the head, right?
Tapology: Is that a fight that you would like to get?
Woodley: There are so many guys in that weight class. I don’t mind fighting anybody, but I do believe there is a time in the season for each fight. I am not egotistical enough to say that I’ll fight anybody at any time, but I focus on whether or not each fight makes sense for my career at the time. Some people in the U.S. don’t even know who he is—he won a very prestigious tournament—but a lot of people don’t know who he is. I want to make sure that each fight elevates me.
Tapology: You don’t seem willing to rush into a fight with guys like Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, and Jay Hieron until you believe you are ready for those fights. Do you thin you are ready for that kind of competition right now?
Woodley: I have a family to support and financial goals to meet, so those guys make a very desirable situation for me financially. I’m confident in my skill level; I believe I can go against the top guys, but I think at this point they [Strikeforce] want to take a wise approach to bringing me up. They want the fans to get to know who Tyron Woodley is, and that will make a bigger and more marketable fight with those guys in the future. It will be that much better when I’m on CBS or a bigger card.
I think they realize that this is the best way to bring me up. I am genuine, and I think I represent something different in that fans want to see real, uncut MMA fighters, and I think that’s what they’re going to see in me.
Tapology: Before I let you go, I wanted to ask you what you think is going to be the biggest problem you pose for your future opponents going forward.
Woodley: I think the biggest problem for every opponent that faces me is that they’re going to get someone who looks different every time he gets in the cage. I am going to be diverse and unpredictable, and that’s what I’m going to bring into the cage with me. If they think all I can do is wrestle and submit, they are going to see a whole new level to my game—a lot of people don’t even know that striking is one of the best aspects of my game.
Tapology: Would you like to thank any sponsors?
Woodley: Full Tilt Poker, all of my trainers in St. Louis, everybody who has been supporting me. I appreciate it and you’ll see me again soon.
Tapology: Thanks for the time, Tyron.
Woodley: Thank you.
