Tyron Woodley: biography
So it could happen that the UFC Welterweight Champion, the professional mixed martial arts fighter Tyron Woodley would join the ranks of gangsters in the hometown of St. Louis. But the guy managed to take fate into his hands and direct energy in a positive direction, in sports.
The fighter Tyron Woodley is said to be an athlete with incredible physical strength, who knocks out opponents in a duel with one blow of his right hand. Tyron had many battles, most of which ended in his favor. Fans love and criticize him if the tournament, in their opinion, turned out to be blurred. But the fighter claims that "guts and blood" is not his format. The main weapon of the athlete is his tactics and respect for the opponent.
Childhood and youth
The athlete was born on April 17, 1982, in Ferguson, in the suburbs of St. Louis. Tyron was the 11th child in a large family of Sylvester and Deborah Woodley. The father left them when the boy was ten years old. The mother had to raise 13 children on her own. According to the fighter, the woman worked three jobs to keep the family afloat.
Woodley had to defend honor in street fights from an early age.
"I learned a lot with my family's limited resources," Tyron said. "My father wasn't around and that feeling made me stronger. I tried to engage in athletics, immersed in training completely. I didn't have time to think, "Where's my dad?". I learned resilience, endurance and how to overcome challenges."
Woodley fell under the influence of the romance of gang life and school performance dropped dramatically. He was suspended for 90 days and missed a semester. The chances to affect the fate at the time seemed minimal but the young man found the strength to change himself for the better and grew to one of the outstanding athletes of the school gradually.
Tyron won awards on the football field and the wrestling mat. The record in the fight was 48: 0, which he won in the state championship in 2000. In the same year, he took part in the tournament of the USA on freestyle wrestling among juniors, where he took the 3rd place.
The universities noticed the talented guy and sent invitations thanks to his sporting success. Woodley goes to the University of Missouri, where he received a diploma in Agricultural Economics. Tyron was immediately engaged in the sports life of the university; he was taken to the national wrestling team. He is the captain of the team from 2003 to 2005.
Later, the athlete told how he had to resist racist manifestations from other pupils, remembering time spent in Missouri. He had a claim to his clothes, his hair. He was almost the only black student in a 400-person class.
"I learned my experience from the University of Missouri because as a person I knew who I was. I have a high enough self-esteem and I will not let anyone say that I'm worse than they," Tyron admitted.
This fighter said that he had not felt any special relationship during the competition and wrestling. According to Woodley, it is impossible to stop racism in the native country but it is possible to control.
Single combat
Tyron is interested in mixed martial arts and finds a coach who could put him on the performance in the nearest amateur tournament. The owner of the gym decided to assess the capabilities of the fighter and gives him some training. Woodley wins the first fight in 20 seconds. The athlete shows a record result of 7: 0 in the status of an amateur; the judging group decides to have no meeting. It is a clear victory of Tyron.
The fighter debuted in professionals on February 7, 2009, when he won his rival Steve Schneider with a technical knockout in a minute after the beginning of the fight. The second victory was over Jeff Carstens; it happened 48 seconds after the applied suffocating reception. Such bright performances brought Woodley a contract with Strikeforce.
"When such a large organization as Strikeforce calls, you need to take advantage of this opportunity every time," Tyron shares, talking about his becoming in mixed martial arts.
The athlete has opportunities here; he steadily moves towards the title of champion in the Middleweight division. Woodley won eight times for three years but he had the first defeat in his career in the fight with Nate Marquardt for the championship belt. Since 2013, Woodley has been acting in UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). He got to the title of the champion after three years in his weight category, which he takes from Robert Lawler.
The sportsman is 68 feet (175 cm) tall; he weighs 169 lbs (77 kg), the arm span reaches up to 74 feet (188 cm). The proper physical shape helps to win a landslide victory over big-name opponents, Darren Till and Carlos Condit, Demian Maia, Kelvin Gastelum, Kim Dong Hyun and others. By the way, Canadian Rory MacDonald won the fight with Woodley. One more victory over the fighter of UFC belongs to Jake Shields. The draw was recognized in one of the meetings with Stephen Thompson.
The athlete conducts training in the hall of Duke Roufus Roufusport MMA Academy. Tyron constantly throws down a challenge to Irishman Conor McGregor.
"If you want to meet a lion to bite off your head and you splatter your blood all over the octagon so that the tiger tattoo on your chest looks like a clown, we can arrange it," Woodley said back in 2016.
But McGregor performs in another weight and it seems that they will not have to meet in a duel, unless the Irishman goes to another weight category, as he has already done several times before. Tyron intends to move to the average weight by the end of 2019 and fight for the title in the new category. The athlete said about it in Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show.
Movies
There is a new page in the biography of Woodley in 2014; he tries himself as an actor. The debut was the role in the TV series The Night Shift and the movie Brute Force. In 2015, Tyron starred in the film Straight Outta Compton about the cult hip-hop group NWA. When Woodley was six years old, the musicians released an album, after which the athlete was a fan of the musical group.
The participation in the filming of the film was a happy event for the fighter.
“There was no gangsta rap at that time and this album changed the 'game.' They, NWA, were street reporters. They told people what was going on in Compton. I appreciate what they did,” Woodley shared.
In 2016, the new actor appeared in the sports drama Sultan and Kickboxer: Vengeance. In 2018, he took part in the filming of the film Escape Plan 2: Hades and Office Uprising.
Personal life
The athlete is happy in his personal life. Tyron has a beautiful wife, Averi, who gave him 4 children. By the way, the man always wanted to have a lot of children and the family brought up the sons Dylan, Darron, Tyrone Jr and the daughter Gabby.
His wife is a teacher; she owns now a sports center. Averi is fond of martial arts and did not miss a single fight with her beloved husband.
Tyron Woodley now
In 2019, fans expect to see Woodley fight with Kamaru Usman
"I believe that Tyron is one of the greatest Welterweight in history. And so it will be an honor to go with him to fight and take his belt champion," - Kamaru announced the intentions, who bears the nickname "The Nigerian Nightmare."
The fight promises to be hot, knowing the character of Woodley and his champion spirit. Probably athletes will hold two meetings during 2019.
Woodley leads a page on "Instagram," where he shares with millions of followers with photos from the fighting or shooting films. The athlete does not hurry events and does not make plans for the future:
"When fighters look too far ahead, they get their ass kicked. It always happens."
Tyron Woodley has a net worth of $4 million.
Titles and awards
- 2000 – The champion of MSHSAA All-State
- 2003 – The winner of Big 12 Conference Championship
- 2013- The winner of Knockout of the Night
- 2016- The winner of the award Fight of the Night
- 2016 – The champion of UFC Welterweight Championship
Filmography
- 2014 - The Night Shift
- 2014 - Brute Force
- 2015 - Straight Outta Compton
- 2016 - Kickboxer: Vengeance
- 2016 - Sultan
- 2017 - Spider-Man: Homecoming
- 2018 - Escape Plan 2: Hades
- 2018 - Office Uprising
- 2018 - The Favorite
