Tyron Woodley has suggested that previous mentorship of Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington impacted his bouts against them.

While his run with the UFC may not have ended particularly well due to a notable losing streak, Tyron Woodley will forever be known as one of the most successful welterweight champions in the promotion’s history. He successfully retained the belt four times, eventually losing it to Kamaru Usman.

Woodley would go on to suffer defeats to Gilbert Burns, Vicente Luque and, perhaps most notably, Colby Covington.

Colby and Woodley had been locked in a rivalry for years and when they finally met, it was ‘Chaos’ who got the better of his foe.

During a recent interview, Tyron explained how he used to help the likes of Covington and Usman back in the day.

“I wasn’t training any less, I wasn’t any less focused. Maybe not as motivated, just because the bullshit, it didn’t even make my temperature rise. Most guys I was fighting, like Usman and Colby, I mentored those guys. I’ve got the text messages to prove it. ‘How should I do this, and who should I fight, and how does it feel to be a champion?’ These guys was like my pupils at one point in time. So the threat of fighting never really made my stomach bubble. I was going through the motions for a minute,” Woodley said.

Quotes via MMA News

The next chapter

Woodley was recently seen taking on Jake Paul in the boxing realm, losing the rematch via knockout.

Now, he’s suggested that he takes on one of the Diaz brothers before eventually retiring from combat sports.

What do you think should be next for Tyron Woodley? What is your favourite memory from his UFC title run? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, BJPENN Nation!