It’s a tale as old as time: pro athlete lives the high life while he’s at the top of his game and comes out broke on the other side. Tyron Woodley has recently spoken out about the way he “blew through” his earnings while he was the UFC welterweight champion.
I blew through a lot of f*cking money, man. A lot. A lot of money. Jewelry and VIP and all these experiences, all these things that came with the championship life. You really, when you come from where I come from, you never imagine making that type of money. You never imagine being in that type of position. You work hard for it, and I didn’t get there by accident, but nobody taught me finance…
Everybody taught me 1+1 is 2. That’s math. That ain’t finance. That ain’t wealth, that ain’t investing, that ain’t saving, that ain’t tax. That’s basically, you made money and, f*cking, you spend it. Because when I was growing up, we spent it when it came in. My mom’s check was already cut up, it was done before she even got it. She had to pick which utility bills was not gonna be on that, that month. And it was something that I didn’t recognize, as a kid, that it wasn’t normal. I thought everybody had to do that.
h/t Bloody Elbow
So what did The Chosen One spend his money on?
I bought, like, seven cars and, f*cking, two houses and all these trips. And nobody ever lifted a f*cking hand when we was at a restaurant, 10-15 people went to dinner. And I was going to VIP clubs and all this sh*t, like, every other week. And I just imagined making that amount of money for a very long time. And they very quickly said, ‘Poof!’
Woodley next fights on March 7 at UFC London, where he faces Leon Edwards. It might not be for championship cash, but a win could put him back on track for a rematch with current champ Kamaru Usman.
