“He didn’t make sense. He ‘wanted to fight the best,’ I have the gold. But he don’t want the gold, he ‘made PPV’ without the gold. I think Nick Diaz is a great fighter. If he realized that I was actually giving him credit and I was actually wanting to fight him because he was one of the best welterweights in the history of the sport, I think he would’ve answered it quite differently. But as it shows you, his IQ, outside of fighting, is not extremely high. I think I may get an opportunity to fight Georges St-Pierre, which is going to be a bigger payday, so he can go fight for a ‘non-plastic belt’ against somebody else. He might have walked his way out of several seven figures.”
-Tyron Woodley responds to Nick Diaz’s somewhat rambling thoughts about fighting him in his own interview with TMZ Sports (transcribed by BloodyElbow.com).
Penick’s Analysis: That’s a hell of a quote from the new UFC Welterweight Champion. At the same time, he asked for the Diaz or GSP fights because both are bigger names than he is. That’s it. In many respects Diaz understands that, whether he articulates it well or not. That’s why he responded the way he did, because while it’s one of the biggest money fights for Woodley, it’s not the biggest money fight for Diaz. I don’t think Diaz will miss out on whatever payday he wants if he fights someone other than Woodley, but Woodley is still likely getting a bigger payday if the fight’s against St-Pierre.
[Photo (c) Jayne Kamin-Oncea via USA Today Sports]
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