Tyron Woodley has ridiculed accusations he will 'throw' his fight with YouTube star Jake Paul.
The former UFC welterweight champion takes on Paul in Ohio on Sunday in his first fight since his final defeat in the UFC by Vicente Luque in March.
Woodley, 38, who promises to be Paul's sternest test to date, has been accused by former rival Colby Covington of 'throwing the fight' because he is "broke".
But he told Fight Hype : "I’m taking it serious. That’s what I think.
“I think the amount of people that know me and know better than to call me and ask me – am I throwing this fight for money, or is it a real fight, or is it exhibition?
"Like, I don’t understand why people think in 2021, somebody’s willing to let somebody pay them for a fight when I’ve been nothing but a competitor for 30 years.
"And it’s kind of offensive. So, to me, I’m like, ‘Alright. Let me show everybody what it’s all about.'”
Woodley feud with Paul has escalated since the fight was made with the rivals agreeing on a tattoo bet at their opening face-off, which the American has revealed he would be willing to "negotiate" if he gets the victory at the weekend.
But Paul has revealed that he believes he has the "natural power" to stop his opponent early in the fight, and has altered his knockout prediction to the second round.
"Honestly after this camp, I said three [rounds] and now I'm thinking, max two," he told Sky Sports.
"But to be honest, something in my heart tells me that it's going to be another one round fight, as crazy as that sounds. I think it's going to be a very short night for Tyron.
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"I'm just built different, I have something inside of me that I think is just a natural born fighter, with natural power, you can teach a lot of things, but you can't teach speed and you can't teach power.
"I think that's why my fights have ended so early.
"When those 10oz Grant gloves come on, I just grip them back, and the knuckles are at the front of the gloves. There's no way these people's heads can deal with this damage."
Paul has also called out another former UFC champion in Conor McGregor, who believes has had an "embarrassing fall from grace" after his recent defeat to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.
Despite labelling it "sad", he has since revealed that he would still like to fight the Irishman in the boxing ring, and has revealed his plans that he believe can beat the 33-year-old in a "massive" fight.
