Ex-UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley Parts Ways With The Promotion

Mandatory Credit: Jeff Bottari - Zuffa LLC

Former UFC welterweight champion, Tyron 'The Chosen One' Woodley has parted ways with the UFC this Friday night, having spent eight years under the promotion's banner. 

In the midst of a four-fight losing skid, the former undisputed 170-pound best most recently competed professionally at UFC 260 in March, where he suffered an opening-round Brabo choke defeat to Vicente Luque, after an entertaining first-round firefight. The matchup came as the final on Woodley's promotional deal. 

Speculation began to mount that Woodley's time with the promotion had come to an end after it emerged that he had been removed from the UFC's fan's ranking pool. (H/T Tom Feely). Multiple sources close to Ross Markey MMA confirmed that Woodley has parted ways with the UFC. 

An alum of the now-defunct Strikeforce organization to boot, Woodley debuted in the UFC back in February of 2013 -- scoring a second-round knockout win over Jay Hieron. The Roufusport trainee amassed a 9-6-1 record from his fifteen-fight stay with the UFC. 

The 39-year--old St. Louis born veteran had scored a 10-0 professional record prior to a notable knockout loss to Nate Marquardt in a vacant Strikeforce welterweight title clash in July of 2012. Prior to his run in the UFC, Woodley has taken home notable wins over the likes of Rudy Bears, Andre Galvao, Tarec Saffiedine, Paul Daley, and Jordan Mein. 

Prior to his current four-fight losing skid, Woodley had only suffered prior promotional blemishes against both Jake Shields and former Bellator champion, Rory MacDonald. 

In notable Octagon triumphs, the heavy-hitting wrestler scored successes against the likes of Josh Koscheck, Carlos Condit, Dong Hyun Kim, and recent UFC Vegas 24 headliner, Kelvin Gastelum, prior to his UFC 201 title challenge victory against Robbie Lawler back in July of 2016. 

In successful title defences, Woodley retained his crown in a majority draw against Stephen Thompson at UFC 205, before a majority decision win over the Simponsville striker at UFC 209 in March of 2017 in a rematch.

Along with his win over Thompson, Woodley added both Demian Maia and Darren Till to his hitlist as champion. 

Eventually dropping the title, Woodley suffered a one-sided unanimous decision defeat to current champion, upcoming UFC 261 headliner, Kamaru Usman in March of 2019. The defeat spiraled into a four-fight skid, including dominant losses to both Gilbert Burns and Colby Covington, prior to March's submission defeat to Luque.