Former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley says he feels ‘crappy’ after suffering a lopsided loss to Gilbert Burns at UFC on ESPN 9.
Returning from more than a year of hiatus, ‘The Chosen One’ tussled with the Brazilian fighter in UFC’s first MMA event in Las Vegas since March.
Going into this fight, Woodley said “I’m as focused as I’ve ever been in my entire professional career” as he looked to reclaim the welterweight belt he lost to Kamaru Usman last year.
But things did not go as planned for the former champ. The streaking ‘Durinho’ pulled off a stunning performance to eke out a dominant unanimous decision win (50-45, 50-44, 50-44).
Regarded as one of the best welterweights ever, it was the first time Woodley lost back-to-back fights and he admitted it wasn’t just his night.
Coming Back Stronger
Woodley, who logged a measly 28 significant strikes as compared to Burns’ 83, has vowed to come back stronger after coming up short against the ninth-ranked welterweight.
“To be honest, I feel crappy that I lost. I didn’t imagine losing to Gilbert Burns,” he said afterwards (via ESPN).
“But at the end of the day, I’m really proud of myself because mentally, I knew what I was going through in the Octagon. He gave me some hard shots, and I just kept saying, ‘I’m not fixing to give up. I’m not feeling that this dude beat me. I’m coming back. I’m gonna win this fight.’
“It wasn’t my night. I don’t understand it, but I just gotta trust God that there’s something bigger and better.”
No Excuses
In an Instagram post on Sunday, the 38-year old fighter said: “I felt good. I have no excuses. I felt good. I train hard. I was in great shape. I felt like I did everything right.”
He added: “Everything felt good from the walkout to the stretch, to every single thing about the fight. I looked him in the eyes yesterday and knew he was going to be ready to fight. I thought that was good.”
“He did a good job of keeping the distance (and) not coming at the shots. I felt like I was reaching. I don’t have no excuses, man. I’m going to hold my head high.”
Watch the video below:
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Tyron Woodley and Twitter/ UFC)