Woodley in press conference spat with member of Paul's camp
The press conference leading up to the Paul vs. Woodley fight was held at the Hilton in Cleveland. Woodley's mom was involved in the off stage altercation.
Pre-fight press conferences are always filled with trash talk, stare downs, and the occasional melee, but when someone’s momma gets talked about then you can guarantee the tensions will boil over. That’s exactly what happened in the presser leading up to the Jake Paul vs Tyrone Woodley fight.
Youtuber vs former UFC champion
The social media influencer continues his quest to conquer the boxing world, as he is set to take on the four time UFC welterweight champion in an eight round bout in Paul’s home town of Cleveland, Ohio.
The spat came after the news conference hosted at the Hilton Hotel. Voices started to raise off-stage as a member of Paul’s crew and Woodley’s mother, Deborah, were involved in a verbal altercation. It didn’t take long for the mixed martial artist to take note, and when he did he had to be held back by half the room before things finally cooled down.
"One thing I don't do is disrespect," Woodley told ESPN afterward. "And when disrespect comes to my mother, it's a whole issue. F--- this money, f--- this bag, f--- the pay-per-view, f--- the fight. When it comes to that, it will not be tolerated."
Paul stayed out of the off stage skirmish
Surprisingly, Paul was not involved in the tussle. The younger of the two brothers is known for his tendency to provoke, with his loud mouth and his antics (remember to hat snatching incident before the Mayweather fight). But so far, this dog’s bite has been equal to his bark since stepping into the the ring three years ago.
Paul has won each of his three professional fights by knockouts before the second round has ended. Each of his opponents have been increasingly tougher. His first fight was with YouTuber AnEsonGib, and last one agisnt former Bellator MMA fighter Ben Askren.
It's unacceptable: Woodley
While Woodley said he didn’t hear what was said in the war of words between Paul’s camp member and his mother, the former UFC fighter said his mother should have never been brought into the matter. "They shouldn't have asked her what's two times two. I'm looking, I'm trying to do the faceoff and I hear him going back and forth with my mom. Any time something is going back and forth, that's unacceptable. I don't care who you are, what nationality you are. It's unacceptable."
While Paul is normally a glutton for any sort of publicity good or bad, he did say he was disappointed how things happened at the Hilton on Thursday. Paul had just got done talking about Women’s Equality Day and Sunday’s co-main event between Amanda Serrano and Yamileth Mercado.
Deborah Woodley almost as well known as son in MMA world
"I'm sitting here talking about how much I love my mom, how much I love my girlfriend," Paul said. "Then of course Tyron's mom gets into an altercation. I just wish it was something else. If it was something else, I'd be like, 'Great, we sold more pay-per-views.' On this day, with how it went down, I just didn't like it.
Deborah Woodley is well known and well respected in the MMA commnuinty. She has always been front row in every one of her son’s fights and even gives hugs and has words with Woodley’s opponents, even after his losses.
She will no doubt be ring side on Sunday night when Woodley and Paul go toe-to-toe from the Rocket Mortage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.