CLEVELAND – Tensions reached a new high following the Tyron Woodley vs. Jake Paul press conference on Thursday afternoon.
While Woodley and Paul faced off at the conclusion of the pre-fight press conference, a member of Paul’s camp began chirping at Woodley’s mother, which caught the attention of the former UFC welterweight champion. Things escalated from there as the back-and-forth talking continued between Paul’s camp and Woodley’s family.
“I’m looking, trying to do the faceoff, and I hear him going back and forth with my mom,” Woodley told MMA Junkie and other media in a scrum after the situation subdued. “Anytime it’s going back and forth, that’s unacceptable. I don’t care who you are, what nationality you are, that’s unacceptable. So I said, ‘Is you f*cking talking to my mom now?'”
Woodley got off the stage, went after the opposing team, and had to be restrained by members of his camp and police that were present.
“Then I hear Jake say something, ‘Yeah, he’s talking to your mom.’ He don’t know no better. He don’t understand this lifestyle. I’ll shake this whole f*cking room in a way you ain’t never seen. F*ck the UFC sh*t, f*ck the knockout sh*t, I will start f*cking hurting people, and you’ll see orange droppin, hitting the floor.”
The yelling between both sides continued as the situation continued to escalate, but luckily only heated words were exchanged before cooler heads prevailed.
“What you’re not gonna do is talk to my mother in any type of way,” Woodley said. “I don’t give a f*ck if you’re a whole op, if you killed my friend, I’m never gonna speak on nobody’s mom.”
Despite feeling his family was disrespected by his opponent’s camp, Woodley explained the altercation will not provide any extra motivation to get a win over Paul on Sunday.
“I’m relaxed,” Woodley said. “There’s nothing they can do or say to make me perform any higher to provide any more violence. I was already at the max level. I was going 100 regardless. It’s nothing they can do to make me like, ‘Now I really gotta go because he said something about my mom!’
“I was already there. I was already in kill mode.”
Paul vs. Woodley takes place Sunday at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, and is set to air on Showtime pay-per-view.
Check out the full media scrum with Woodley in the video above.
