Former UFC champion Tyron Woodley knows he came close to finishing Jake Paul in their first encounter back in August.
Woodley (0-1) and Paul (4-0) are set to rematch on December 18th, this after their first bout ended in a controversial split decision win for the YouTuber.
Tyron Woodley was able to rock Jake Paul with a right hand in their first contest, but he never pounced on his injured foe to finish the fight.
That oddity had many fans believing the fight was fixed and or that Jake Paul had a “no-knockdown” rule stipulated in the contract.
‘The Chosen One’ has made it clear that there was no such clause in the original contract he signed with Jake Paul. Instead, he says his lack of killer instinct in their first match in Cleveland stemmed from a throbbing shoulder.
“My shoulder was f*cking sore,” Woodley said on The MMA Hour (h/t MMAFighting). “I ain’t gonna lie. I wanted to [knock him out] but my shoulder was swollen before and I was just kind of swinging on pure thug energy from MMA, not just giving a hell.”
Tyron Woodley had previously suffered a torn labrum during his 2017 title defense over Demian Maia and that injury apparently flared up while he was in the ring with Jake Paul.
“When you watch the punch, I punched him, he sprung off the ropes and he went back into my arm,” Woodley explained. “So it kind of hype extended my elbow on my shoulder so at that point my moneymaker was at jeopardy so I had to try and walk him down, make him punch so I could punch straight shots. Straight shots off of his punches, very similar to what I had to do against Demian Maia when I tore my labrum in that fight.”
Woodley continued:
“I couldn’t throw looping overhand rights because it made me feel like my shoulder was in jeopardy. So my left arm and my right arm and my shoulder, they was just throbbing like a motherf*cker.”
Tyron Woodley has vowed to knockout Jake Paul in this weekend’s highly anticipated rematch. If he is able to do so, the win will snap a five fight losing skid for the former UFC champion.
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