Tyron Woodley Can’t Look Past Stephen Thompson

Tyron Woodley made the first defense of his newly won UFC Welterweight Title at UFC 205, where he fought Stephen Thompson to a draw.

The champion, who nearly finished Thompson in the fourth round of their fight, says he cannot look past Thompson in the rematch.

“I want to be the best welterweight ever, and there’s a few guys on the list, including finishing up this business with ‘Wonderboy’ that’s going to cement that for me,” Woodley said at a UFC 209 media conference call. “Obviously, Demian Maia, Georges St-Pierre, Nick Diaz. Those are guys that obviously are on that list. … (But) if I look too far ahead I’m going to come up with an ‘L’ on March 4th, and then he’ll be fighting those fights.”

Woodley became the welterweight champion when he knocked out Robbie Lawler at UFC 201.

Even though they fought to a draw in their first fight, Woodley doesn’t see anything new from Thompson in his preparations for UFC 209.

“I’m not concerned about anything,” Woodley said. “What did he do in that last fight that should make me concerned? I’m not the one who got knocked down four times in one round, nearly submitted, completely dominated in that first round. I’m going to make an adjustment because I’m a martial artist, and I’m a perfectionist, and I’m a hard worker. But it’s nothing he did in the fight, and there’s nothing he could have done in the training camp that’s going to make him that much different of a fighter. With that said, no I’m not concerned. I don’t take it for granted, I don’t take any opponent lightly, and that’s why when I went out and fought him the first time he didn’t surprise me with anything he did. I expect him to do that. I actually expected him to do a little bit more.”

UFC 209 takes place on Saturday, March 4 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson headlining.