UFC London: Tyron Woodley Admits to Blowing Through Money During Championship Reign

Tyron Woodley sat atop of the UFC’s welterweight division for over two years, and as a result, the powerful fighter was taking home much larger checks. But, as Woodley prepares to fight for the first time since he lost the welterweight belt, the star’s admitted he blew through money during his reign.

Woodley reports he “blew through” a serious amount of cash

The decorated wrestler secured the UFC’s welterweight title in July, 2016, by bombing out Robbie Lawler in the opening round. In the ensuing years, Woodley proceeded to enhance his legacy by retaining the welterweight belt in four straight fights. In March, 2019, however, Woodley’s run as the champ came to an end, as he dropped a one-sided decision to Kamaru Usman.

Well, fast forward to today and Woodley is booked to fight Leon Edwards on March 21st in London. Recently the 37-year-old appeared on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, and while discussing his time as the champ, Woodley relayed the following (quotes via Bloody Elbow.com):

“I blew through a lot of f–king money, man,” Woodley said. “A lot. A lot of money. And I was—jewelry and VIP and all these experiences, all these things that came with the championship life. You really – when you come from where I come from – you never imagine making that type of money; you never imagine being in that type of position. You work hard for it – and I didn’t get there by accident (because I was busting my ass) – but nobody taught me finance.

“Everybody taught me 1+1 is 2. That’s math. That ain’t finance. That ain’t wealth, that ain’t investing, that ain’t saving, that ain’t tax. That’s basically: you made money and, f–king, you spend it. Because when I was growing up, we spent it when it came in. My mom’s check was already cut up, it was done before she even got it. She had to pick which utility bills was not gonna be on that, that month. And it was something that I didn’t recognize, as a kid, that it wasn’t normal. I thought everybody had to do that.

“So, when you started making money? I bought, like, seven cars and, f–king, two houses—and all these trips. And nobody ever lifted a f–king hand when we was at a restaurant; 10-15 people went to dinner. And I was going to VIP clubs and all this sh-t, like, every other week. And I just imagined making that amount of money for a very long time. And they very quickly said, ‘Poof!’ Damn! I’m on it like, ‘You gonna tell me, March 3rd, that this is different? It’s not the same?’ And it’s just a lesson learned.”

Woodley certainly isn’t the first athlete, nor will he be the last, who has cruised through a lot of cash after making the big time, scoring a new contract etc. Further, in the case of the UFC, a lot of people have talked about how there’s a huge financial difference between being the champ and not. So, this will only provide even more motivation for Woodley heading into his bout with Edwards.

UFC London line-up

Here is the line-up to date for UFC London, which will be hosted by the city’s O2 Arena on March 21st.

170 lbs.: Tyron Woodley vs. Leon Edwards
185 lbs.: John Phillips vs. Dusko Todorovic
185 lbs.: Darren Stewart vs. Marvin Vettori
265 lbs.: Tom Aspinall vs. Raphael Pessoa
125 lbs.: Ashlee Evans-Smith vs. Molly McCann
205 lbs.: Paul Craig vs. Ryan Spann
170 lbs.: Nicolas Dalby vs. Danny Roberts
145 lbs.: Gabriel Benitez vs. Lerone Murphy
155 lbs.: Marc Diakiese vs. Stevie Ray
145 lbs.: Makwan Amirkhani vs. Mike Grundy

*Fight card, bout order and the amount of matches subject to change.

Line-up via MMA Mania