Tyron Woodley has opened up on his decision to post the meme challenge following his KO loss to Jake Paul.
Back in December in their rematch, Woodley suffered a vicious KO loss to Paul in the sixth round. The former UFC champion was out cold and after the loss, he took to Instagram to offer a $5,000 payout to whichever fan could create the funniest meme of his knockout.
Woodley then posted the winner and seemed to enjoy the process. Now, he has explained why he decided to do it.
“It was one of the worst mistakes I ever made in a fight. But at the same token, had I not dropped that hand, had I continued to fight the way it was going, we’da been looking at something different,” Woodley said on The MMA Hour. “So I gotta just take the bitter with the sweet and just keep moving.
“That’s why I did that challenge, you know what I mean? I’m not finna let the motherfuckin’ internet or nobody else make me crawl up in a shell and not come outside, not post, or not say nothing for three, four, five, six months. I can’t afford to do that. I got too much shit that was coming out before this fight even happened to even let a pause. So that’s why I did the challenge.”
Although Tyron Woodley created the meme challenge, he does admit the loss still hurt him. However, he is focused on fighting a few times in 2022 and eyes a March return in boxing before he goes back into MMA. When and who Woodley will fight in his return is uncertain. However, he has been linked to a bout with Dan Hardy in the past.
Looking back on the Paul fight, Woodley has made the decision not to allow anyone to define the experience he had leading into and on the night of December 18. The creation of the meme contests helped Woodley take control of the narrative.
“I won’t allow people to take away the fact that, one, I stepped up when nobody really was available. I was in shape. I was prepared. I was ready. I won every round—I think he might have won the second round when I looked back at the fight. I won every round, even was winning that round up until that one moment. So I won’t let my hand dropping for one second and him perfectly timing a punch at the same time make me completely take away everything that happened,” Woodley said.
What do you make of Tyron Woodley creating the meme challenge?