Tyron Woodley “started laughing” when he was offered Jake Paul rematch

Ex-UFC champion Woodley had been training on the off chance he would earn a rematch with Paul since October, and wasn’t surprised when Tommy Fury pulled out of the originally planned fight

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Tyron Woodley planning Jake Paul trilogy in 2022

Tyron Woodley says that his first reaction to being offered his rematch with Jake Paul two weeks ago was to “start laughing”.

Former UFC welterweight champion Woodley was training for the rematch on the off chance Tommy Fury would pull out of his fight with Paul since October.

And when the Brit was forced to miss the card due to an injury to his ribs, Woodley was immediately called to step in and save the event.

Woodley has said that the call was not a surprise to him, and he had been preparing for it, with a potential back-up fight in January rumoured.

“I just started laughing,” Woodley explained during an appearance on The MMA Hour.

“I started laughing because it’s been times like this before in my fight career where my coaches, especially Din Thomas, knows where I said something, I spoke something into existence and they watched it happen.”

Woodley was beaten by split decision in the first fight with Paul, and had expressed immediate interest in a rematch.

But the fight looked like it was not set to materialise as the YouTube star instead opted to face a “legitimate boxer” in the 7-0 Fury, whose brother is world heavyweight champion Tyson.

However, Woodley felt that there would be a rematch, and after “speaking it into existence”, believes he will win at the second time of asking.

“I was surprised that fight was even being set up and it didn’t even get the attention,” Woodley said of the originally scheduled Fury bout. “It didn’t get people talking about it.

“More people were talking about me fighting him again than they were talking about Tommy.

“More people were talking about the tattoo, more people were talking about the no knockout clause, more people were talking about the fact they thought he lost – all those different things.

“I told myself, I said it didn’t feel right and I think I told [host Ariel Helwani], I told my coach, I said ‘watch, I’m telling you this fight’s not going to happen.

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“Someone told me to be ready and get ready and that’s all I did and I’m glad I listened.”

Fury’s involvement in the bout had been questioned for a solid part of the build-up, with fans noting that he kept quiet on social media after missing the pair’s two launch press conferences.

They were supposed to go face-to-face for the first time since signing to fight at a press conference in Las Vegas, before heading down to Tampa for an event in the host city.

But Paul was left to carry the promotion at both events with Fury’s coach SugarHill Stewart when he jetted home for a family emergency with his mother Chantal.

And while Fury has insisted that there will be a rescheduling of the fight, Woodley told Mirror Fighting last week that he intends to have a trilogy bout with Paul once he has won on Saturday night.