"He's become more passive" - Teddy Atlas details why he isn't surprised that Tyron Woodley lost his last five fights
Tyron Woodley recently lost his professional boxing debut against YouTuber-turned-celebrity boxer Jake Paul.
While Woodley ruled over the UFC welterweight division for the larger part of a decade, 'The Chosen One' has now dropped his last five bouts, including four UFC defeats and his recent loss to Paul.
Renowned boxing coach and commentator Teddy Atlas recently revealed the reason behind Tyron Woodley's series of losses.
According to Atlas, Woodley has become 'passive' over the course of his last few outings, resulting in losses.
Atlas also believes it is a conscious decision on the part of the former champ, who has traded caution for vulnerability. Seemingly not surprised by Tyron Woodley's loss, Teddy Atlas told Ariel Helwani in a recent episode of The MMA Hour:
"And I saw what he's been doing and he's just lost four fights in a row for reasons. He's obviously gotten older. Okay we understand, he's 39 years old. But his demeanour has become more passive. And that's probably a word I shouldn't use in UFC but there's degrees of passiveness. And he is just gotten more cautious. And it's caused him to lose fights. So that remained with him. And he made a decision to continue to be cautious rather than be vulnerable. And I think it allowed him to be able to go the rounds and be competitive but it stopped him from having a chance to win."
Catch Teddy Atlas' appearance on The MMA Hour below:
Teddy Atlas had predicted Jake Paul to knock Tyron Woodley out
While most of the combat sports world was rallying behind Tyron Woodley, Teddy Atlas had his hopes pinned on Jake Paul.
The world class boxing coach not only predicted a win for Paul, but expected him to knock Woodley out with his right hand. Asked about Tyron Woodley's recent loss, Teddy Atlas told Ariel Helwani:
"First of all I had predicted (Jake) Paul to win the fight. But I had predicted him to win by knockout. You know, full transparency. We are always very honest, we try to be very honest and we should be honest. So, that's the first thing. And the reason why I just saw a vulnerability in (Tyron) Woodley where he would push the jab. And Paul is confident with his right hand. You know, I'm not saying he's got an Ernie Shaver's right hand. But he's got a decent right hand. And more importantly he believes in it. So I thought there would be window of opportunity to sneak the right hand over that pushed jab."