Tyron Woodley reflects on the downfall of his UFC world title reign

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has spoken candidly about what went wrong for him towards the end of his reign.

As UFC welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley was able to successfully retain/defend the belt four times against Stephen Thompson, Demian Maia and Darren Till. On top of that, he won the belt courtesy of a nasty knockout victory over former champ Robbie Lawler.

Then, however, Tyron Woodley lost the belt at the hands of Kamaru Usman, kickstarting a losing streak that lasted for the remainder of his mixed martial arts career. These days, he is dabbling in the world of boxing, and tomorrow night, he will collide with Anderson Silva as part of the Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua card.

Ahead of that contest, Tyron Woodley took the time to reflect on his tenure as UFC champion in a recent interview.

Tyron Woodley discusses the downfall of his UFC title run

“A lot of people don’t know this, I was the first and maybe the only fighter to negotiate three fights on one call,” Woodley told MMA Fighting. “I negotiated fighting [Kamaru] Usman and then in victory with Usman, I was supposed to go and fight Colby Covington and defend the belt. If I beat Colby Covington, I was going to be allowed to go up in weight and fight for that belt. That was my game plan.

“At that time in my career, I lost focus and I was focusing too much on the lifestyle and too much on the things that came along with it. Women, partying — not like drinking and drugs and stuff — but just being at the Maxim 100 party. I was invited everywhere and I just became a socialite. I feel like that took the place that the focal point should have been in.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting