He may not be the favorite of Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White, but UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is shrewdly understanding how to stay in the spotlight.
In the latest edition of his “Hollywood Beatdown” segment with TMZ, the 170-pound kingpin revealed that he has been training boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr. under mixed martial arts pretenses, hinting that “Money Mayweather” may legitimately be interested in stepping into the cage.
“I saw him at the [Michael] Jordan party during [NBA] All-Star weekend, we started chatting about training MMA and we decided hey, let’s connect, let’s hook up in Vegas and do some training and get ready for MMA,” Woodley said.
Mayweather, 41, last fought on Aug. 26 of last year, knocking out UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor in their blockbuster “Money Fight.” After bringing his pro boxing record to 50-0, Mayweather has since feigned retirement while consistently teasing a potential comeback, whether between the ropes or inside the cage.
“Think about this. Floyd Mayweather is one of the greatest strikers of all times. How many guys in the UFC, that can’t wrestle and can’t grapple, that consider themselves a standup fighter, [if] they have to stand across from one of the greatest strikers ever, they’re gonna be in a world of smoke,” the 170-pound kingpin stated.
Woodley added that his training goal with Mayweather would be teaching the pugilist how to identify when an opponent would kick, and naturally, defending takedowns.
“In my opinion, depending on opponent, if he’s fighting a guy that’s some crazy Division I national champion wrestler or a black belt in jiu-jitsu, maybe he’s not going to take the fight,” he continued. “He’s a smarter guy than that. He’s going to fight a big fight that makes sense, I can see maybe it’s a Conor or something like that.”