Tyron Woodley not ready to retire despite recent losing streak

Tyron Woodley has not won a fight since UFC 228 back in 2018 when he defeated Darren Till to defend his welterweight title for the fourth and final time. Despite his losing streak, which has lasted four mixed martial arts fights and two boxing fights, the former welterweight champion is not ready to call it quits on his career.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani in an appearance on The MMA Hour, 'The Chosen One' stated:

"I feel like I asked God, I said, ‘show me this perfect fight', and then he showed me this perfect fight and me walking away from the sport, and he showed me walking away on top, he show me walking away with a - literally a bulletproof, perfect, no mistake performance."

Tyron Woodley continued:

"That’s the way I envisioned it so no matter how many lessons I took along the road, or how many bumps, I know I didn’t feel that fight, so therefore I know it’s not time for me to hang it up, right?"

Woodley added that while reflecting with his kids recently, he realized that his victory over Darren Till may have been the perfect fight. He noted that he may have considered retirement following the bout, however, his reckless spending habits at the time placed him in a position where he needed to take a few more fights.

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Tyron Woodley shares his plans for 2023

Tyron Woodley was inactive for the entire 2022 calendar year, however, he does not expect that to be the case in 2023. Speaking to Ariel Helwani during the same interview, the former UFC welterweight champion touched on his plans for the year, which include fighting in three different sports, stating:

"I’m going to do a boxing fight, and then I think I’m going to fight in a kickboxing fight. Every time I kick somebody, they hit the ground. Why don’t I kick people more?... Then I want to wrap up the year with MMA. I really want to fight in St. Louis. I haven’t fought in St. Louis since my first Strikeforce."

Woodley, who is originally from Ferguson, Missouri, fought in St. Louis in 2009 in his first Strikeforce appearance, which was just his third mixed martial arts bout. While he has not returned to his home state since, his career is now in a position to organize an event in Missouri.

Watch Tyron Woodley share his plans for 2023 below (starting at the 9:47 mark):