Woodley Says Nurmagomedov-McGregor Fight Was Like 'Old Men Fighting At The Nursing Home'

Tyron Woodley was paying close attention last October as the biggest pay-per-view event in Ultimate Fighting Championship history went down, and came away unimpressed with the blockbuster main event.

UFC welterweight champ Woodley, who also works as a fight analyst, was at the Fox desk that night, providing commentary and analysis of the hugely hyped match between lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov and the former champ, Irish superstar Conor McGregor. “The Eagle” had too much for McGregor on the night, utilizing his world -class wrestling to nullify the power of the Irishman eventually submitting him in the fourth round.

Despite the hype around the fight, however, Woodley claims he wasn’t impressed with either fighter’s performance. At a UFC media event Monday, where Woodley was present to promote his title defense at UFC 235 this weekend, he provided his take on that fight (transcription via MMAFighting.com).

“It wasn’t that great a fight,” said Woodley. “I don’t care what anybody else said ... they both kind of looked bad. They both looked like old men at the nursing home fighting each other. But then we glorified this fight. It wasn’t like this great strategic fight where one person was strategic.”

Woodley spoke about how McGregor has transcended the sport, and his persona outside the fight game ensures he still gets major fanfare despite the fact he’s lost three of his past five bouts.

“This is a person that, I don’t give stats, he’s lost a few times and won a few times,” Woodley said. “But look at his mystique he has. So it’s telling you it’s not so much about winning. It’s about the showmanship. It’s about what you bring to the table. It’s about making people give a f---. You gotta find a way to do both. You gotta find a way to do both of it. You’ve got to find a way to make people invested, want to see me lose, want to see me win.”

Woodley claimed he prefers to do his talking inside the Octagon. While “The Chosen One” is one of the UFC’s most successful fighters, he is a divisive figure, preferring to put together a game plan to outpoint his opponent and avoid damage rather than stand in the pocket and trade which is something he admits doesn’t win the fans over.

“If you go out there and you punch and you bleed and you brawl and you go back and forth, you really can’t lose in that situation,” Woodley said. “You can get your ass whupped and knocked out, but if you fought to a point where everyone was like ‘oh my god, he’s so tough,’ not only with the fighters and the fans but the promotion, you’ve kind of almost put yourself in the mold where they’re going to keep you.”

Woodley says MMA is unique among sports, claiming that self-promotion is arguably as important as competitive success.

“We saw with [Keith] Jardine, we saw with so many fighters forever that, subpar, .500 records that stayed around that, then you have a guy who lose maybe one fight and they’re gone,” Woodley said. “And I just think that, when you look at a sport? Think about basketball. It don’t matter if you wear a pimped out custom suit, talk the most s--- as possible, if you can shoot a three, you can shoot a three. How many times you seen Steph Curry talking crap? You get paid the big bucks based on how you deliver out on the court.”