"I never thought he's gonna fight me again" - Tyron Woodley says he respects Jake Paul for choosing to fight him on short notice instead of rescheduling with Tommy Fury
Tyron Woodley gets his second shot at Jake Paul on December 18 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Woodley stepped in on two weeks' notice after Paul's scheduled opponent Tommy Fury withdrew due to an injury.
During a recent appearance on Submission Radio, Tyron Woodley revealed that he hadn't expected the rematch to come around and respects 'The Problem Child' for being game for it.
Woodley also thinks that Paul offered him a second opportunity because he cares about public opinion. However, the former UFC welterweight champion doesn't think it will benefit the YouTuber-turned-boxer, suggesting he's likely to get knocked out.
"I never thought he was gonna fight me again. I thought he was just gonna walk around and took that little gift and not fight me again. So yeah, I respect him for that. Because he didn't have to do it. It's not like he's short on change or he couldn't just reschedule for a different date. So yeah, I think he just... like I said, he cares about what people think. So he wants to step up and show people that he'll do a last minute fight because that's what fighters do. It's not gonna work out to his benefit though cause he's gonna get knocked out."
Watch Tyron Woodley's full interview on Submission Radio below:
Jake Paul wasn't keen on a rematch against Tyron Woodley
Jake Paul and Tyron Woodley previously faced each other in August in at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. Woodley dropped a split decision against Paul despite knocking him against the ropes and appearing to have the 24-year-old hurt midway through the contest.
While 'The Chosen One' called for an immediate rematch, Jake Paul insisted that he follow through with their pre-fight tattoo bet. Woodley eventually got the ink, only to learn that 'The Problem Child' had already moved on from the rematch.
The first fight between the two recorded 500,000 pay-per-view buys, which is much less than what some people expected. According to Paul, people weren't interested in a rematch between the pair. Jake Paul told TMZ Sports prior to the rematch coming together:
“By the time he got the tattoo, we had already moved on to fighting Tommy Fury and making that fight negotiation happen. I don’t think people really want to see Tyron vs. Jake Paul again. He had his chance.”
Watch Jake Paul's interview with TMZ Sports below: