Why Defeating Anderson Silva is Personal For Tyron Woodley “He’s a GOAT”

Anderson Silva will throw down with Tyron Woodley in a featured boxing match on the upcoming Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua card, which will be streamed live on Netflix on December 19.

The former UFC welterweight champion recently discussed why defeating ‘The Spider’ is personal for him. The Chosen One’ told Ariel Helwani:

“This is a fight I needed to have that I didn’t know I needed to have. I never even thought about fighting Anderson [Silva] in my life. We grew up watching him. He’s a GOAT, and he was a weight class above me, but I was not even in the UFC when he was champion. So it never even crossed my radar. When he presented that fight, it was more of a legacy fight for me. To put that skeleton in my closet that I beat Anderson Silva is something personal for me. So that’s why I was excited. I am thankful that I was already kind of training to be able to take a short-notice fight.”

Check out Tryon Woodley’s comments below (3:44):

Silva was originally scheduled to fight Chris Weidman, but the latter had to withdraw because of injury, and Woodley replaced him on short notice.

The Chosen One’ has two boxing matches on his resume, both against Jake Paul. In their first outing, the former UFC champ lost by split decision, and in the second, Woodley was knocked out in the sixth round. Silva, on the other hand, has 5 pro-boxing matches on his resume and a record of 3-2. He has also lost to ‘The Problem Child.’

Tyron Woodley promises to “hurt” Anderson Silva

Despite the respect that the two former UFC champions have for each other, on Dec. 19, Tyron Woodley will be merciless against Anderson Silva. In a recent interview, he pledged to revive his ferocious old self and hurt the Brazilian:

“Imma hurt him, man. I just know. I’m going to box him, I’m going to flick him, I’m going to outshow him, and I’m going to outfight him… That’s the Tyron Woodley people want to see anyway. That’s the vicious person who knocked everybody out.”

Check out Tyron Woodley’s comments below (0:48):