"He was weaker" - Tyron Woodley makes a surprising claim after loss to Khamzat Chimaev at RAF Moscow

Tyron Woodley has put forth his assessment of the freestyle wrestling match between himself and fellow MMA great, Khamzat Chimaev. 

Woodley suffered a pinfall defeat against the Chechnya-born fighter in the first period of their catchweight wrestling match that headlined RAF Moscow on September 5. The loss aside, the American has now made a claim about Chimaev's strength, which has taken a number of fans by surprise. 

Tyron Woodley suggests Khamzat Chimaev was "weaker" than expected in RAF Moscow clash

During an in-studio appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Tyron Woodley addressed a myriad of topics. The former UFC welterweight champion notably gave his thoughts on coming up short against ex-UFC middleweight champ Khamzat Chimaev in their wrestling match under the Real American Freestyle (RAF) wrestling banner. 

Woodley stated, "I was so ready, man. I'm so mad." He added, "It's funny, but not funny. I don't believe in jet lag. I'm not blaming jet lag. I'm not blaming the size difference -- he's bigger than me. I'm not blaming -- he's younger than me. None of that sh**."

The 44-year-old pointed out that a few unimportant distractions, such as watching his opponent smile, distracted him. Regardless, he gave props to Chimaev, underscoring that he won't take away from the grappling savant's game plan and execution, adding that he's simply criticizing himself for underperforming. Woodley noted, "Everything I did was the opposite of what I was supposed to do." 

Upon being asked whether Chimaev was stronger than he'd expected, Woodley surprisingly said, "No. He was weaker than I thought." 

Juxtaposing his training with elite wrestlers alongside his match against Chimaev, Woodley seemed to highlight a significant point. He appeared to draw parallels between "Borz" and former Pride FC heavyweight champion, MMA great Fedor Emelianenko. 

"T-Wood" indicated that the Chechen combatant had more of a "whipping" force like Emelianenko used to generate in his legendary ground-and-pound. Woodley implied that Chimaev doesn't exactly seem to possess the "brute strength" that most people feel he has. He said, "So I didn't feel the strength." 

Watch Tyron Woodley give his breakdown of the RAF Moscow wrestling showdown against Khamzat Chimaev below (*comments at the 28:10-minute mark of the video): 

Tyron Woodley's expected MMA comeback; his public appearance at the Ki MMA launch

Tyron Woodley's most recent professional mixed martial arts matchup transpired back in 2021, wherein he found himself on the wrong end of a submission, losing to Vicente Luque. It marked his final fight in the UFC, following which he ventured into professional boxing -- Woodley was dealt a pair of losses by influencer-cum-boxer Jake Paul there, and he then faced a defeat against fellow UFC alum and legend Anderson Silva. 

Here in 2026, Woodley has competed twice in the RAF, outpointing Joaquin Buckley last month and subsequently losing to Khamzat Chimaev, who might be staring at an MMA hiatus. 

Intriguingly, speaking to Ariel Helwani in his aforementioned in-studio appearance, Woodley affirmed that he's looking to lace up the MMA gloves again. His intentions to make an MMA comeback have coincided with his much-discussed public appearance at the new Scott Coker-founded Ki MMA organization. 

Woodley is said to have long shared a bond of respect with Coker, the head honcho of the erstwhile Strikeforce MMA, and many believe that the former UFC star could possibly return to MMA competition under the Ki MMA banner soon.