Tyron Woodley Returning To MMA

Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

“The Chosen One” is returning to mixed martial arts (MMA).

It has been three years and six months since former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley last competed in MMA, but he’s looking to change that soon. The former 170 lb kingpin revealed in a recent interview that he is returning to MMA after a disastrous two-fight stint in boxing.

“I’m working on a comeback, not that I ever left, but a lot of people thought I had retired from fighting,” Woodley told Forbes. “I needed some time to be normal. In 2021, after I fought those two fights against Jake [Paul], I just really took the next years to travel and go to concerts...I took my self off the grid. From the age of 10 to 40 with no brakes, 30 years straight through. It was my first break in my athletic career ever.”

“In 2023, there was a lot of cap. A lot of people say they wanted to fight; Floyd [Mayweather] said he wanted to fight. Manny [Pacquiao] said he wanted to fight. KSI wanted to fight. One was down to a contract, but none of them went through,” Woodley continued. “Now that I have everything in position, I can focus on getting this body back into shape and getting ready to do more destruction.”

Even though Woodley got viciously knocked out in his last boxing match against Jake Paul (watch highlights), he isn’t done with boxing. For now, he has his eyes set on mixed martial arts.

The former UFC champion did not reveal which promotion he would fight for, but he said he was working on a big fight.

An obvious landing spot would be Professional Fighters League (PFL), especially because he has been working as a color commentator for them...maybe a fight with Paul? There are also several regional shows he could fight for. Or, he could headline Nate Diaz’s first show for his promotion against Diaz.

Nevertheless, Woodley is riding a four-fight losing streak in MMA and was finished by Vincente Luque in his last outing (watch highlights).

To checkout UFC’s upcoming schedule of events click here.