When we last heard from Tyron Woodley on training Floyd Mayweather Jr. for MMA, the UFC welterweight champ said they were “getting it set up” and that he could have the 50-0 boxer ready to step in the Octagon in 10 weeks.
Woodley appeared on this week’s edition of UFC Tonight to discuss the process of preparing one of the most accomplished boxers in history to deal with the threat of kicks and takedowns in a new sport … at 41 years of age.
“Blocking kicks is really easy,” Woodley said. “Once you get to the point where Floyd Mayweather is at, you can see that his boxing, his defense, his ability to see a punch coming in a fraction of a second and avoid or evade that punch, comes from repetition. Drilling over and over and over again. So that’s all we would have to do to utilize blocking kicks.”
Woodley also expanded on the idea of every fight beginning where Mayweather is most comfortable.
“Obviously, every round starts on the feet, every fight starts on the feet, and if you can keep it on the feet, I think that he can hold his own with pretty much anyone in that weight division,” Woodley said. “My job is to really just help him avoid being taken down, using angles, using footwork, using defense, how to get back up if he gets taken down.”
While Woodley made the aforementioned suggestion of 10 weeks to prepare Mayweather for a mixed martial arts fight, earlier this week, Mayweather said he’d want a full six months.
Of course, MMA history is littered with men who have felt they just needed a little time to change their long-term mindsets for guaranteed success in the cage.
It also has a few James Toneys who didn’t even bother to take the situation seriously while talking about their “side check-kicks”
Woodley and Mayweather seem to have a far more realistic plan for their future, though, and it’s one the UFC champ feels has benefits on both ends.
“You think for one second I’m gonna be in Floyd Mayweather’s camp and I’m not gonna tighten up my boxing and get my hands ready to go?”
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