Despite being the least marketed at one of the PPV events of the last few months, Tyron Woodley believes the UFC is pushing Kamaru Usman too hard ahead of his welterweight defense against Gilbert Burns on UFC 258, who compared the reigning champion to the likes of Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor and Paige VanZant – who ultimately did not live up to expectations.
“Do you know what’s funny? I think if Usman loses, he’s going to get a second chance, ” Woodley, who lost his welterweight title at UFC 235 to Usman, said in a recent interview with MMA Island (h / t Low Kick MMA).
‘[The UFC is] try their best to push him. No disrespect to Usman, he’s a good guy. You can spend so much money to impose a star on us and it does not happen. “At the moment I feel like it is being forced,” he said.
‘That’s when Ronda [Rousey] lost, that’s when Paige [VanZant] lost, that’s when Sage [Northcutt] lost. That’s when Nate Diaz beat Conor McGregor. That feeling feels very familiar to me. ‘
Woodley lost to Usman and Burns and thus has a somewhat unique insight into Saturday’s main game.
‘T-Wood’ chooses Burns for the upset because he believes ‘Durinho’ is simply the more well-rounded fighter with the sharper toolkit, which has a competitive edge to hit and wrestle.
“Gilbert is tough. He’s a better joker. He’s a harder puncher. “I don’t think Usman won the ground wars against Gilbert in the training room,” said Woodley. ‘If you have a man who knows that, he can strike a little more effectively, because even if you take him down, you know he has a leg-lock game. If you take him down, you take his back, armrest, hind choking, he is very high. Usman must think about it at all times. I think Gilbert is going to chase him hard. He got this chance to be a champion. I think it’s a good fight. ”
‘Usman is very consistent, especially when making changes. He’s going on strike and you know in the Colby [Covington] he does not have to go away from the straight beats. He had to go shoot. In other fights, such as against Leon Edwards, he had to fetch a shot to be successful to pass, which took him back to the shot. Before you know it, time has passed and Leon has lost time to win the battle. If I had to say Usman was great in anything, then he’s great. ”
UFC 258: Usman vs Burns takes place this Saturday, February 13th at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.