‘I wanted to hurt him’ – Former UFC Champion Tyrone Woodley on ‘very disrespectful’ KSI fight negotiations

‘I wanted to hurt him’ – Former UFC Champion Tyrone Woodley on ‘very disrespectful’ KSI fight negotiations

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Negotiating contracts in the fight business can be a nasty power struggle. There’s a reason why, for boxing’s biggest bouts, it often feels like years of fencing in the boardroom before the two men actually fight in the ring. In MMA, where individual fighters are much weaker, promoters like the UFC are notorious for their “take or leave” attitude at the negotiating table.

Despite this, Tyrone Woodley still seemed to have the ability to surprise.In a recent episode of MMA Hour, former UFC Champion and two-time Jake Paul’s opponent, he appeared as a simple “KSI.” Well-known celebrity martial artist Olajide Oreinka Williams was caught in the weeds during a planned boxing match with Olatunji.

The YouTube personality and hip-hop artist first rose to sporting notoriety in 2018 with an amateur bout with Logan Paul, followed by a professional rematch a year later. He entered the ring in 2022 as an exhibition fighter, in a two-fight one-night boxing event against fellow celebrity boxer Swarms and 2-7 “professional opponent” Luis Alcala Pineda, both by KO. of men. KSI announced at his PPV on January 14 that Social, his media personality, has already kicked off 2023 successfully by defeating FaZe Temperrr.

It is in that final battle that Woodley’s anger is focused. Apparently, the January 14th fight card was originally supposed to feature a double-billed headliner, with Logan Paul going up against Dillon Danis and KSI going up against “The Chosen One.” However, Paul hurt his knee in a WWE guest appearance, resulting in a Danis vs. KSI fight instead (complete with its own tragic promotional affair).

Woodley doesn’t want to be bitter about losing the fight, but according to him, dealing with KSI’s team was a complete nightmare.

“The contract negotiations were so disrespectful that I wanted to hurt him,” recalls Woodley (transcript MMA Fighting). “So I mentioned this to his manager.

“I mean, they wanted all the benefits,” said Woodley. “And this was an added condition after we had already agreed. So when I went to Dubai, I went to his trainer and told him. I don’t weigh 185 pounds and your boy is going to be a mess. “

But despite his profound feelings of contempt, Roufusport’s longtime talent seems to know he can’t be overly enthusiastic about the whole thing. and made a name for himself as a top-notch martial arts fighter.

“I didn’t want to cry over spilled milk because one thing I have to realize is that I have to be careful with my heritage,” Woodley said. . “You can’t scream and scream and pound to be able to compete with the guys that come in from an entertainment standpoint, right? Especially for what you’ve already done in your career.”

Doesn’t he understand why Tyrone Woodley wasn’t at the top of his list after all, when Danis dropped out of the fight and KSI needed a new opponent again?

“KSI is athletic, but he can punch hard, so I think he’s a little intimidating, but some people are used to hammers and not so much to nails. And I think he and his administrative staff knew that. If he wanted to fight, my struggle would be doubled.”

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