Tyron Woodley Says GSP Is Avoiding Him

UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley will be defending the gold against Stephen Thompson this weekend in the main event of UFC 209.

Woodley wouldn’t mind fighting the returning Georges St. Pierre instead, but the champion feels that GSP is avoiding him.

"Let's not get it twisted, part of the reason he left the sport was concussions,” said Woodley to ESPN. “He doesn't seem to be extremely thrilled to get in there with somebody that can punch him to the point of getting dropped and suffering a concussion – an ugly, grueling fight. I'm a guy who makes that fight for him. I have the highest takedown defense in the entire welterweight division, maybe the second-highest on the UFC roster. It's going to be very hard for him to take me down and keep me down."

The welterweight champion must get past Thompson, as the two fought to a majority draw in their first meeting at UFC 205. While Woodley feels GSP is avoiding him, a fight with Thompson is something he feels GSP wouldn’t run from.

"I think they want to see how this fight plays out. If 'Wonderboy' comes up with a victory, I think we'll see him try to fight 'Wonderboy.' [Thompson] has a crazy style and he has knocked guys out, but how many times has he stood in the pocket and just thrown heavy leather [and] let them damn UFC gloves fly and knock somebody out? Never,” says Woodley.

It's worth noting that Wonderboy and GSP are longtime training partners/

UFC 209 takes place on Saturday, March 4 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson headlining. Fightful will be providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.