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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Tyron Woodley has the biggest fight of his career this weekend at UFC 171 when he takes on former Interim UFC Welterweight Champ Carlos Condit. It's an opportunity to move himself into title contention in the UFC, and he believes a win over Condit should put him to the top of the list.
He had a lot of other things to say last week ahead of the event as well regarding a number of fighters in the division. In an interview with MMAJunkie.com, Woodley sounded off on Condit, Rory MacDonald, Dong Hyun Kim, and more. Here are some highlights.
On Condit:"He point fights. He moves around. He sticks and moves. He doesn't just come out there and start banging on people. That's not his style. He comes out there, and he overwhelms you with volume. He point fights. Point fighting is point fighting. When you have enough points and you overwhelm guys, you do have the ability to finish toward the end of the fight. He makes you chase him, and when he has enough points, he'll finish you."
On Rory MacDonald and Dong Hyun Kim:"Rory MacDonald should go and cut another avocado because I don't think he deserves a world title fight. He didn't want to fight the champion when he was there. He was a top three welterweight, and he refused to fight for a title, but now all of the sudden GSP hangs it up for a little bit, and he wants to jump in after a victory over Demian Maia? Not sure about that. Dong Hyun Kim, he's a great fighter. He was losing that fight to Erick Silva, and he got reckless, and he caught him and knocked him out. [John] Hathaway is not a top 10 welterweight. Maybe Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald should fight each other."
On Nick Diaz:"He hasn't won a fight since 2011. He lost to Carlos Condit, he lost to GSP, and he hasn’t beat a wrestler in his life. So you're going to come out retirement whenever you feel like it and just jump right into a title shot? I don't buy it."
Woodley also said that he deserves consideration as the only fighter willing to step up against Condit, and thinks all of it should put him above the pack with a win on Saturday.
Penick's Analysis: The continued use of "point fighter" in regards to Condit is just laughable, and the only fight you can levy that criticism against him for was the Diaz bout. Beyond that, Condit has one of the highest finishing rates in the sport in his wins, and his last fight saw him demolish Martin Kampmann for a vicious stoppage. And for Woodley of all people to make that comment is even more ridiculous given the way he's won a majority of his fights. Regardless, it's true that he stepped up for this fight, and if he defeats Condit in impressive fashion, then he might get consideration over several fighters. He might be ahead of MacDonald, I think, because MacDonald lost to Condit and is 1-1 in his last two. He'd be ahead of Diaz for similar reasons, though he'll wind up with a few names in the veritable mix with him if he upsets Condit. Matt Brown, MacDonald, the Jake Shields-Hector Lombard winner, Dong Hyun Kim, they're all in similar positions. Condit is the clear front-runner if he wins, and the UFC will have to figure some things out from there.
[Carlos Condit art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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