Tyron Woodley attempted to land two very big names to compete in his new mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion, but apparently an eight-figure payday wasn’t enough to lock it down.
The former UFC welterweight champion has been trying to stay relevant ever since getting his chin tested by Jake Paul inside of the boxing ring two years ago. Woodley is no longer part of UFC or looking to make another run at a world title. Instead, he’s looking to score some major paydays by using his clout and attracting fellow aging veterans of the sport to compete.
Most recently, Woodley attempted to lock down a fight with Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz in effort to launch his newly-created MMA promotion, The Realest International Promotion (RIP). Unfortunately, the two UFC legends wanted nothing to do with Woodley’s “eight figure” offer.
“I control who fights on the card, and I’m looking to fight guys that are legendary to me.” Woodley recently told TMZ Sports. “That I feel like, maybe didn’t get the respect and the money that they should’ve gotten when they were at the top of the top. Like Georges St-Pierre. I offered him a dumb bag, he said no, ‘I’m not in that world anymore’.”
“I offered Nick Diaz a dumb bag, when I say ‘dumb’, I’m talking about pushing the eight figures,” added Woodley. “A lot of money, to fight me, in the middle east. But, they both said no. Nick didn’t say no, Nick liked the comment, so I don’t know what that means. But you know what I mean, [I want to fight] people that I respect, people that I thought were GOATS. Now that the money is really coming to the sport, I want to go at those people first.”
Woodley, who turns 42 this coming April, hasn’t captured a victory in MMA since submitting Darren Till back in 2018. “Chosen One” ended up losing his final four fights under the UFC banner, including a title fight loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 back in 2019. It’s unknown at this time who Woodley might fight in his return to the cage, but it’s safe to say GSP and Diaz are no longer viable options.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
