How UFC champ Tyron Woodley thinks racism has impacted his MMA career

On numerous occasions in the past year, boxing promoter Bob Arum has insisted the UFC’s audience mirrors the demographic that supports Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump: It’s “lily white,” the International Boxing Hall of Famer has said, with little appreciation of diverse cultures.

That has not won Arum a lot of friends in the mixed martial arts world, but one prominent voice agrees with him to a degree.

Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, who will defend the title against Stephen “Wonder Boy” Thompson on Nov. 12 in the co-main event of UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden in New York, has first-hand experience that leads him to agree with Arum’s position.

Part of the reason, Woodley speculated, is his race. Woodley is black and feels he has been treated differently as a result of it.

Even more than 50 years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964, black athletes face tougher scrutiny and have a more difficult time than their white counterparts do, Woodley said.

“What I go through from some of the fans, it’s not all about how they might feel about Stephen ‘Wonder Boy,’ ” Woodley said. “I go on my social media and what do I see? [N-word]. Monkey. Anything you can think of. At one point, I was getting 10 per day. … It didn’t bother me because I have a pretty good self-identity. I know who I am. I know what I’m fighting for. It didn’t change my direction, but with that said, it’s factual: Race is an issue in sports.

“My issue with race in sports is that we neglect [to admit] it exists. People try to act like it doesn’t exist and they’ll say, ‘Oh, race has nothing to do with it. What about Jon Jones? What about Demetrious Johnson? What about [Anthony] ‘Rumble’ Johnson?’ When you have to pick out three or four people out of 600, that’s like saying, ‘Oh, I’m not racist. I had black meatloaf for dinner last night.'”

Woodley had an inauspicious debut to his welterweight title reign, which began with a devastating first-round knockout of Robbie Lawler on July 31.

He was mocked by a large portion of the fan base for asking to fight former champion Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz in his first defense, bouts that would have represented a substantial payday.

Thompson earned a title shot with resounding victories over ex-champion Johny Hendricks and Rory MacDonald. Woodley felt Thompson was a worthy challenger, but he also knew that fights against either St-Pierre or Diaz would pay him substantially more than he’d make fighting Thompson.

It led to a contentious back-and-forth between the two.

“I don’t know why it went that way,” Thompson said. “I don’t know if it was because he was wanting to fight two guys who hadn’t been in the game for a while when he first got the title or what.”

But Woodley’s post-title malaise didn’t end with the out-of-nowhere war of words with Thompson.

The UFC last week tweeted a video clip of him being knocked out by Nate Marquardt in 2012 to promote Marquardt’s Oct. 1 fight, which Woodley found offensive. He said UFC president Dana White apologized to his manager because it didn’t come out like the company had planned.

Then, during the UFC 205 introductory news conference on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, he was booed upon introduction and whenever he was asked a question.

Anyone who personally knows him can attest to the classy person Woodley is, and how much he has overcome in his life to reach the pinnacle of his profession.

But Woodley deeply believes a double standard exists for minority athletes and that the double standard is being used against him.

It’s hard for Woodley to look at what has occurred since he won the title without feeling race is a major reason for the reaction he has gotten.

“You can’t say you don’t want to bring race into sports because it’s there; it’s a part of what is happening in this world,” Woodley said.

Woodley said he felt justified in calling out St-Pierre and Diaz because of the string of big fights he was in and he believes that was the UFC’s plan if Lawler had retained the belt at UFC 201.

“Think of how many No. 1 contender fights I was in,” Woodley said. “Kelvin Gastelum, they said if he beat me he would have fought for the title. [Carlos] Condit, if I would have suffered a knee injury [instead of him], no one would have made anything of it. They’d have said, ‘Oh, it was going to happen anyway.’ ‘He hurt him with a leg kick.’ He would have then gotten a title shot. Rory MacDonald did get a title shot. … I’ve been in three No. 1 contendership fights. How do you get in three No. 1 contendership fights, lose one, and not get a title shot?”

Woodley took advantage when he got that chance, and mused publicly about the big fights. But, he pointed out, a difference. He didn’t hold out when the UFC presented him with a bout agreement to face Thompson, even though he preferred to fight St-Pierre or Diaz.

“I’m the only fighter who did not decline a fight,” Woodley said. “It’s publicly known that Eddie Alvarez did not sign bout agreements [to fight] Khabib [Nurmagomedov]. Deadlines were given and he still didn’t sign them. Chris Weidman just got put on the card because he was fighting to try to get what he deserved. Same thing with [Al] Iaquinta, who is off the card, or [middleweight champion] Michael Bisping, who wanted Dan Henderson. He isn’t the No. 1 contender.

“I was basically ridiculed for things I basically didn’t even physically follow through on. I accepted ‘Wonder Boy’ when they presented me with the offer. I don’t know if it’s race or what, but I pretty much was treated way differently than Conor McGregor. I ain’t lying: I’m happy about [McGregor headlining the card], but I knew it wouldn’t be received negatively like I was.”

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