Tyron Woodley ‘never lost hope’ he’d get shot at Robbie Lawler’s title

After Tyron Woodley’s No. 1 contender fight with Johny Hendricks fell out the day before UFC 192 due to Hendricks’ weight-cut issues, Woodley was promised a shot at the UFC welterweight title.

And Woodley’s finally getting it … at UFC 201, nine months later, where he’ll meet Robbie Lawler in the main event in Atlanta.

But according to the American Top Team fighter, while he had his moments of worry, especially given how many promised UFC title shots haven’t come through over the years, he never stopped believing he’d get his chance.

“I never lost hope it was coming to fruition,” Woodley said on a recent edition of The MMA Hour. “I made this my training camp logo. You can delay but you can’t deny. I want to be the welterweight champion of the world.”

Of course, to get there, Woodley had to endure a gamut of speculation on who Lawler’s next opponent might be — from rumors of a Georges St-Pierre return to a rematch of the UFC 195 barnburner with Carlos Condit to Stephen Thompson as the new flavor of the month — before he got the bod.

At the end of the day, though, Woodley doesn’t care whether he was UFC president Dana White’s first pick in title challengers or his last, so long as he gets the opportunity.

“I did have some …

continue reading in source www.mmafighting.com