If He Doesn’t Get Title Shot, Woodley Won’t Be Happy

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Tyron Woodley ran his Strikeforce record to 8-0 on Saturday with a split decision over Jordan Mein.

After the bout, though, he was disappointed that the promotion didn’t guarantee his next fight would be for the vacant Strikeforce welterweight title.

“To me, it should be, ‘Tyron’s fighting for the belt next.’ That’s the only answer I was looking forward to hearing,” Woodley told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Savage Dog Show.”

Instead, Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker delayed discussion of a title bout for now.

“Yeah, it concerns me and it kind of really frustrated me that -- what are we guessing about?” Woodley asked. “Did I guess when [Strikeforce] called me and said, ‘Hey, you want to fight this tough kid in three and a half weeks?’ When I was just told basically I was going to fight in February 24 hours before then? Those are my thoughts. I’m just being honest.”

Although the bout against Mein was scored a split decision, Woodley seemed to be the clear winner. He outwrestled Mein throughout and controlled him on the ground. The fight wasn’t particularly entertaining, but Woodley said it should be seen in the context of his other performances.

“I’ve knocked guys out,” he said. “I’ve submitted guys. I’ve made people stop through strikes. I’ve had different kinds of submissions.”

Woodley hasn’t finished his last three opponents -- Mein, Paul Daley and Tarec Saffiedine -- but he did beat them and he has put away other opposition as well. At this point, he won’t be happy unless he’s fighting for the belt next. He isn’t so sure he will be, though.

“My response is going to be not very good, number one,” Woodley said when asked of how he’ll respond if he doesn’t get a title shot. “Number two, they announced something at the press conference that caught me and several others by surprise: Paul Daley and [Kazuo] Misaki fighting … which draws a huge problem because obviously Misaki would be the most legitimate person to match me up with for a world title. So now it’s like, once again, I’m a victim of circumstances. My world title, me fighting for the belt, is dependent on somebody else.”

Daley and Misaki meet March 3 in Columbus, Ohio. It might make sense for Woodley to fight the winner, but then again, that could take a while to set up and he’s already beaten Daley regardless.

“What if Paul Daley beats him?” Woodley said. “We’re going to rematch for the title? Are they going to have me fight immediately after March? I just fought in January. Are these guys going to fight in March and then turn around and fight in April? I don’t think so.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 1:00:18).