Tyron Woodley left the promotion after a string of losses during his title reign. Woodley went on to fight Jake Paul in the crossover boxing circuit twice and lost twice, first via decision and then via brutal one-punch knockout.
Woodley was a recent guest on Demetrious Johnson’s MightyCast podcast, where he had some things to say about fighter pay. Interestingly, the conversation even mentioned UFC Hall of Famer Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone.
Tyron Woodley breaks silence on UFC exit
Tyron Woodley recently discussed his departure from the UFC on the MightyCast podcast, hosted by Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson. Woodley expressed his disappointment with the compensation he received prior to being released from the promotion.
Interestingly, Woodley was planning to leave the UFC after his title defense against Darren Till, which would unfortunately be his last. “I told them, ‘Fcking cut me, dog. Ya’ll don’t want me here. Why ya’ll keep holding on to me, dog?” said Woodley on the MightyCast podcast. Woodley did not want the same remuneration as Donald Cerrone, who was never a champion in the UFC.
Tyron Woodley says UFC paid him similarly to Donald Cerrone, takes umbrage: 'Motherf*cker never touched gold' https://t.co/Okp8ZzePd7
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) January 30, 2024
“That motherf*cker ain’t never touched gold in his life. That’s just a principle thing,” Woodley said about Cerrone. “Sometimes when you’re an African-American in this game, they think you should just be appreciative. I’m not just appreciative”, Woodley further went on to state the racism angle to the fighter pay argument.
Woodley even revealed that he even went on to argue for Demetrious Johnson, who never got PPV points even though he was a long-reigning champion with 11 title defenses. Unfortunately for Woodley, he lost the title to Kamaru Usman and suffered three more consecutive defeats, which led to his release from the UFC.
How Much Did Tyron Woodley Earn in UFC?
Tyron Woodley had amassed a total of little more than $5 million through the UFC, as per the website ‘mmasalaries’. Woodley’s biggest payday was from UFC 228, where he secured a submission victory over Darren Till. He made close to $600K on the fight, slightly above his next fight against Kamaru Usman at UFC 235, where he made close to $550K, the same he got for his fight with Demian Maia and his second fight with Stephen Thompson.
But after he lost the belt to Usman, his deal said he would get $200,000 to show and another $200,000 to win. This was not nearly as much as Donald Cerrone, who got $350,000 to show and another $350,000 to win. However, Woodley has stated that he earned more from his two boxing matches with Jake Paul than he did throughout his entire UFC career.
When Woodley fought Robbie Lawler for the title, he had a contract that stipulated that he get $270K to show and $70K to win, which he did. Before that, he was on a $70K to show and $70K to win contract. Before that, he was in Strikeforce, where he had a contract that started at $1.5K in the beginning but rose to close to $50K by the end when the UFC acquired Strikeforce.
Woodley has not fought since the knockout loss to Jake Paul, but he was in the headlines recently as a sex tape that featured him and his partner went viral on social media. Paul had a hilarious response to the sex tape. It needs to be noted that many consider Paul’s win over Woodley his most credible victory.
What do you think of Tyron Woodley’s statement regarding fighter pay? Leave your thoughts below!
