Tyron Woodley has fought the who’s who of the welterweight division, but his toughest opponent might be a surprise.
Woodley, the former UFC welterweight champion has competed against the likes of Robbie Lawler, Stephen Thompson, Kamaru Usman, Jake Shields, and Carlos Condit among others. However, his toughest fight happened in Strikeforce Challengers.
“The toughest opponent I’ve ever fought was a dude named Nathan Coy,” Woodley told Helen Yee recently (via Essentially Sports). “He was actually a teammate of mine at American Top Team. The other guys I fought, I just did not perform, or I backed up too much. Or [Nate] Marquardt, I was relaxed for one second too long on the cage and he threw me the elbow buffet.
“But Nathan Coy, I was there,” Woodley continued. “And I was a 100 percent and I was going hard and he was going hard. And I threw up so bad after this fight. Oh my God, it was so hard…. And it was such a close fight. I barely won it, but I was fighting as hard as I could and he was fighting as hard as he could. And he’s the only one that I’ve ever fought at the level that matched me. Anyone else I fought at 50% or more, I knocked out or beat or snapped them. When people are beating me, I am not remotely where I am supposed to be at.”
It is a very surprising answer due to the fact Nathan Coy was someone who went 1-2 in the UFC. Yet, Coy put up a tough fight against Woodley and had a ton of success.
Tyron Woodley is set to return to the Octagon at UFC 260 against Vicente Luque. The fight could be do-or-die for Woodley as if he loses his fourth in a row, he could be released from the promotion.
