Tyron Woodley walked into the octagon at “UFC 201” in his fight against then-champion Robbie Lawler and knocked him out with just one punch. Again, Woodley was labeled as the underdog going into his first championship defense against Stephen Thompson in a fight that was so close, the judges saw fit to score it as a majority draw.

Now, waiting for his moment to shine again at “UFC 209” for his rematch with “Wonderboy”, Woodley is opening up about a sensitive issue that he understands some people may not want to talk about. Woodley opened up about race on a recent edition of “The MMA Hour“:

“If you look at the history of our sport. And it’s not even our sport, the history of the American culture. Certain things are subliminally embraced that are racist. When you say to me ‘Tyron, you are well spoken’, what does that mean? Does that mean I’m well spoken comparable to all the mixed martial artists, the 500 UFC fighters on the roster? Or does that mean as a black male in America?

“So those fans have come over and brought that same ideology into our sport. They look at the African American athletes.. and not only the fans, the judges. You might have a judge that can be looking at me and waiting for me to fatigue. Waiting on me retire. I’ve listened to people broadcast my fights, [when] I completely steamrolled Carlos Condit in the first round, and the broadcast says ‘lets watch the technique of Carlos Condit and the cardio of Tyron Woodley’.

“Why would you paint that picture when I completely dominated the individual in the round, why wouldn’t you watch the butt-whipping I just put on my man — and see if I can do it again in the second and third round. The perception is there. I think it’s indirect most times, but sometimes it’s blatant.”