Tyron Woodley: MMA Training for Floyd Mayweather Could Begin This Week

Recently, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley mentioned that he would be interested in training Floyd Mayweather for a potential foray into mixed martial arts.

Now, it appears that things could be getting more serious. The main key, according Woodley, is getting Mayweather’s takedown defense up to par.

“I talked to Floyd yesterday actually,” Woodley told TMZ Sports over the weekend. “He’s in Miami right now and we’re coordinating dates on training. I think, obviously, his striking is bar-none some of the best we’ve ever seen in the sport,” said Woodley. “Anybody who has the ability to evade a punch in a fraction of a second, I think, with proper repetition and proper drilling can avoid a takedown wrestling attempt. So that’s obviously gonna be the primary goal, to equip him with the tools to not get taken down and if he happens to get taken down, how to keep his cool and how to get his butt back up to his feet and get back where he needs to be.”

The two fighters are planning strategy sessions and could even transition to training in the very near future.

“We’re beginning the process of setting up the timing. I think more of it is gonna be game-planning strategy over the phone and talking about the game plan of training, because if you think about the wrestling, if you think about the jiu-jitsu, if you think about the kicking aspect of the game, he does not have to go out there and learn how to kick like Bruce Lee,” Woodley said. “He does not have to go out there and become a black belt overnight, he just has to be able to stop it and get in boxing range and I think anybody in the UFC, he’s gonna be able to handle his own with.

“I think we’re gonna start most of it [this] week, so I think we’re gonna start some of the strategy talks next week and we might get some sessions in as well.”

Last week, Mayweather revealed that he is in the process of applying for an MMA license. “Money” hasn’t competed in combat sports since defeating Conor McGregor via 10th round technical knockout in a boxing match on Aug. 26. Since then, the two rivals have traded barbs on social media regarding a potential UFC bout. Meanwhile, promotion president Dana White recently said that the UFC has engaged in talks with the retired boxer.