Tyron Woodley: If Rafael dos Anjos fights me, he’ll get knocked out
The main event of UFC on FOX 26 saw former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos continue his march to a 170-pound title shot with an impressive five-round unanimous decision win over Robbie Lawler, but current welterweight king Tyron Woodley was measured in his assessment of both men’s performances.
Asked for his analysis of the bout on Saturday’s FOX Sports 1 post-fight show, “The Chosen One” was confident that he would finish either fighter.
“In my opinion, what I saw tonight is that if any of those two guys in that bout would fight me, one of those guys is going to get knocked out,” Woodley said. “I saw the IQ wasn’t as high as I would like for a No. 1 contendership fight. Both of those guys are always talking about pushing the pace, and they were going to do this and they were going to do that. I saw a ton of openings for myself (in that fight).
“Obviously, I don’t want to steal the shine. RDA had a great moment, he went out there, he did his job. Robbie Lawler is a very dangerous opponent and he’s knocked out so many different people, but just being honest and keeping it 100 percent, I’m the champion for a reason.”
Woodley can speak with even more confidence when it comes to Lawler given that the two actually fought back in July 2016 at UFC 201. On that night, Woodley became the UFC welterweight champion with a first-round KO of Lawler.
He disagreed that the 35-year-old Lawler, a veteran of countless in-cage wars, wasn’t still capable of performing at a high level.
“I don’t think Robbie Lawler’s slowed down,” Woodley said. “I think his game plan was appropriate, but he didn’t come off of the rope-a-dope. He blocked the shots, he had the pressure, but he never came off punching.”
Woodley later acknowledged that dos Anjos’s move up from the lightweight division could have rejuvenated him, particularly in regards to the weight cuts that may have influenced dos Anjos’s last two losses at 155 pounds, but pointed out that competing in a heavier weight class has its consequences.
“I think the weight might have (been an issue for dos Anjos when he fought Tony Ferguson). I think the weight [was also] an issue with Eddie Alvarez. Now at 170, you come up, you don’t have to cut the weight, but now you’ve got to deal with some real power,” Woodley said.
Even if dos Anjos’s three consecutive welterweight victories are enough to get him a shot at Woodley, he and the other challengers in the division will have to wait as Woodley recently announced his plans to undergo shoulder surgery. The timetable for his return is unknown.