Woodley: Lawler is not the boogeyman

— -- ATLANTA -- Let's face it, Robbie Lawler is not a brilliant fight promoter.

The defending UFC welterweight champion does not produce many headlines, and he tends to say little about his opponents. He's focused on himself, you know? He's getting better in the gym every day. He's not worried about "the other guy." Zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The best way to promote a Lawler fight is to show a Lawler fight. That's his selling point -- entertaining, action-packed fights; the kind that might even intimidate future opponents. You want to take Lawler's title? Better be prepared for the worst 25 minutes of your life.

Tyron Woodley, who will take on Lawler for the 170-pound title on Saturday at UFC 201 at Philips Arena, says he's up to the challenge.

"Robbie will bleed and smile and always keep coming, but you have to be intimidated by him to break from that," Woodley said. "That's actually his main attribute. But he's not the boogeyman to me. I'm sorry. You put him at the foot of my bed, I'm gonna open my eyes, take one look at him, and fall my ass right back to sleep."

It's worth noting Woodley (15-3) has a long history with Lawler, which might help him humanize the champ more than others.

Much of the pre-fight attention has been dedicated to whether or not the two are real "teammates." They both represent American Top Team out of South Florida, although Woodley stopped holding his full-time camp there more than a year ago.

Their relationship actually goes back well before Lawler joined ATT in 2013. It even goes back before Woodley's professional debut in 2009.

"Robbie was a guest referee for my last two amateur fights," Woodley said. "I actually trained occasionally at his gym in Granite City, Illinois, which was 15 minutes from my house in St. Louis. We never sparred because Robbie wasn't doing much sparring at the time, but we wrestled a few times.

"I have video right now on a hard drive, me as an amateur fighter sitting in his gym saying, 'One day, I'm going to be a UFC champion.' Who the hell would have thought I'd be fighting against the person whose gym I was in to make that happen? Those are things that I think make this a little more special."

The two shared a gym again when Lawler joined ATT, but Woodley ultimately left to open a satellite gym in St. Louis. A former collegiate wrestler at the University of Missouri, Woodley also trains out of Roufusport in Milwaukee, alongside his former college teammate Ben Askren.

Since Woodley was the one who relocated, he will, technically, be staring across the cage at a team that once coached him. The 34-year-old says he's not concerned how that might affect the matchup.

"Are they that familiar with me?" Woodley asked. "I don't think they are. I think they're extremely familiar with what they saw a year and a half ago. How much have they seen since? I'll be jumping off the cage in this fight for all they know, throwing spinning backfists and flying armbars. They have no clue what I'm coming with."

If Lawler does possess inside knowledge on Woodley, he certainly isn't hinting at it. As is the case before all his fights, Lawler says his entire focus is on himself. He's hoping for a finish, rather than another five-round war, but if it comes to that, he knows where he stands.

"It's not something I worry about, whether my opponents have that heart in them or not," Lawler said. "All I know is that I have it. If they end up having it too, that's when you see something special. But I don't know what the other guy is bringing to the table. I'm doing what I can to get them out of there. That's about it."

Where many see a stoic, ruthless juggernaut, who (and this actually is a quote from Lawler) looks to claim an opponent's "soul" in a fight, Woodley sees a beatable opponent who doesn't scare him one bit.

"He has been put away before," Woodley said. " Jacare [Ronaldo] Souza? Nick Diaz? I remember those fights. I watched those fights. Tim Kennedy's wrestling was too much for him. Lorenz Larkin was too fast. I possess all those skills, but better. Styles make fights, you know what I mean?

"I think he's showing a lot of caution before this fight because he knows my style -- he has to respect it."