Tyron Woodley is not impressed with Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson’s credentials and even goes as far as to suggest that he needs a rebranding of image.

Tyron Woodley spoke to ESPN Sports on Monday about his upcoming, welterweight rematch title fight with Thompson at UFC 209 on Saturday. “The Chosen One” was asked by ESPN’s Hannah Storm during the “Face to Face” episode to respond to comments made by “Wonderboy” during his interview on February 3. Woodley’s opponent at UFC 209 had said:

“I KNEW THAT I WAS PROBABLY GONNA HAVE TO POKE HIM A LITTLE BIT AND I DID ON SOCIAL MEDIA, WHICH ACTUALLY I THINK GOT HIM TO SIGN THAT CONTRACT. HE SAID THAT HE WAS ACTUALLY GONNA SIGN IT TO BEGIN WITH,” ‘wonderboy’ said.

“BUT, YOU KNOW I SIGNED THE CONTRACT IN EARLY DECEMBER AND WAS WAITING AROUND AND HE’S OVER HERE TALKING ABOUT FIGHTING OTHER GUYS”.

Woodley’s response poked fun at “Wonderboy”, claiming that the challenger to his title knew that he had lost the fight at UFC 205 in 2016:

“The younger kids call him ‘thirsty’ – I think he [Thompson] was having a moment where he needed an I.V [Intravenous Drip] and had been extremely thirsty. He knew I had committed to the fight already before then. But when Georges St-Pierre is talking about fighting you, and Michael Bisping is talking about fighting you? He knew in his heart that he lost the fight. He should be glad that he is even getting a rematch”

Woodley also hinted at claims he had made several times before regarding how non-African American fighters get preferential treatment in the UFC. The current welterweight champion referenced a narrative in the promotional video for UFC 209, which showed clips of their majority draw bout back at UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden in N.Y. Woodley claims that the video portrays “Wonderboy” as the protagonist, which he finds amusing:

“It’s just the way the fight is promoted, they way that they are talking about how resilient he was, and how , you know, he is coming back stronger and he didn’t do what he did last time…i think he is hilarious, i can’t wait to watch the entire thing blow up in his face and go and put him away and I’m gonna walk away like a champion.”

Tyron Woodley further claimed (in response to Storm’s question’s regarding Thompson’s quotes) that he believes Thompson’s father was the one who “poked him” on social media:

“He didn’t have to poke me; quite frankly I believe it was his dad on the social media handle tweeting for him. it’s hilarious that a 34-year-old man just can’t seperate himself, leave the wonderboy status and come into manhood”.