Tyron Woodley Addresses Rumors He Took a Dive vs. Jake Paul in Rematch

AP Photo/Chris O’Meara

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron
Woodley strongly denied he took a dive in his boxing rematch with
YouTube star Jake Paul in December.

Woodley told MMA Fighting’s Ariel
Helwani on The MMA Hour podcast Paul delivered a legitimate knockout
shot that sent him to the canvas in the sixth round:

Unsubstantiated rumors emerged after
the bout that Paul gave Woodley a hand signal shortly before
delivering the knockout punch, which led some observers to believe
the fight was rigged.

Din Thomas, Woodley’s coach,
immediately shot down that suggestion last month during an appearance on MMA on SiriusXM (h/t Dan Cancian of the
Daily Mail):

“That whole theory [of the fight
being rigged], it makes me laugh because being in his camp, I know
how serious it was. It was serious like Tyron really wanted this win
back, he really wanted this fight and it was a serious thing.

“Now, if it was a dive, I wish they
told me about it because I wouldn’t have shown up and taken the night
off. I’d be like partying but that wasn’t the case.

“I mean it was a
real, legit fight.”

Woodley lost the first meeting with
Paul in August by split decision. He took the rematch on short notice
after Tommy Fury withdrew from the event.

“This is as real as it f–king
gets, just like my right hand,” Paul told reporters after the
knockout.

The YouTuber now owns a 5-0 career
record after the back-to-back wins over the longtime MMA fighter.
He’s yet to face a classically trained boxer, however, with his other
victories coming against former MMA fighter Ben Askren, former NBA
player Nate Robinson and fellow YouTube content creator Ali “AnEsonGib” Al-Fakhri.

His success has still led to a major
financial windfall, with his three fights in 2021 generating $40
million in income, per Brett Knight of Forbes.

Simply put, Paul’s events have become
too prominent, both from a revenue perspective and a betting
perspective, to consider rigging them.