After a perfect amateur MMA record 7-0, St. Louis native Tyron Woodley went on to try out for the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter. Woodley, unfortunately, was ultimately was cut before the show began filming. Just a year later, Woodley is considered by many as the best up-and-coming welterweight on the Strikeforce roster, if not all of MMA, with an unblemished record of 5-0 - all five coming by way of submission, all but one of them ending in the first round. We had a chance to speak with Tyron about a multitude of topics just two days before his bout at Strikeforce Challengers.

Cage Religion: In high school, you racked up a perfect record of 48-0 in wrestling and went on to secure 110 career NCAA wins in college. Was MMA something you always wanted to pursue or was it a chance thing, to challenge yourself as an athlete?

Tyron Woodley: It was something that really just came after wrestling in high school and college. My coach at the time was Michael Rogers, in high school, and is also my leader and one of my coaches right now. He was fighting when I was in high school and I told him there was no chance on earth I would ever do that, and look where I am right now!

CR: Who were some of the guys you looked up to when getting involved with the sport?

TW: You know, I never really watched the sport on TV, never watched a ton of fights at the time but obviously B.J. Penn has to be one of them. Guys like Yves Edwards - I eventually went on to become his wrestling coach. I like watching guys who basically put everything together well like Nate Marquardt, Miguel Torres, Anderson Silva - people that just put it together well and in a dominant fashion, those kind of guys.

CR: You've only been fighting professionally for a year now. Over that year you've gone on to rack up a 5-0 record, landed a spot on the Strikeforce roster and are considered the biggest prospect in the welterweight division. What are some of the things that you attribute to gaining so much success in such a short amount of time?

TW: I believe in having a good work ethic and surrounding yourself with positive people, keeping the spiritual side to me at an all-time high. That's the most advantageous thing about my MMA career. It keeps me focused and I don't get caught up in the hype, not getting caught up in 'you should be doing this' and 'why aren't you doing that?' - I do what's right for me and stay patient on my road to the title.

CR: As an amateur with a perfect 7-0 record, you tried out for the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter, ending up as one of the final cuts before the show started. Did you ever expect to bounce back and fight for a major organization, like Strikeforce, just a year later?

TW: You know, I actually took two or three fights after that really quickly before my first Strikeforce fight, but no, I never thought that. Basically for me it was a blessing in disguise because that wasn't for me at the time. I thought I was gonna have to just get back to the grind and do it the old-fashioned way - taking one fight at a time and doing different promotions each time. For me now, it's nice not having to worry about if the opponent is going to show up or not, or if the promotion will still be around or not. Basically, I just stay prepared and when they call, I'm ready.

CR: Do you feel any pressure given that you've risen so quickly and gained so much attention in such short time?

TW: Not really. I've been in basic combative sports my whole life and competed on a high level, so the competition portion is not really overwhelming to me. I really don't get caught up in the hype so that keeps me humble also. This fight, this year, and for the rest of my career I want to step out of that label as "prospect" and "upcoming fighter". It's done great things for me so far, fighting on the Strikeforce Challengers series, giving me exposure on Showtime so people get to know me, know my story, and see what type of fighter I am. I think it served its purpose but this prospect is a contender now and that's how I want to finish 2010 - with those kind of aspirations and that kind of drive.

CR: Like you said, you've beein competing on the Strikeforce Challengers series on Showtime thus far. How much longer until we see you live on CBS?

TW: I think this fight on Friday is my last time fighting on the Strikeforce Challengers series.

CR: Some are already comparing you to a young Georges St. Pierre only five fights into your career. What are your thoughts on that?

TW: It's a compliment because, ya' know, he's a good wrestler, good striker, good defensive wrestling, good boxing. He's athletic, he's fast, he's well-conditioned and those are all things I want to be, well-rounded in each area. Being compared to him, obviously we're different fighters but it's an honor and one day maybe we'll be able to mix it up.

CR: Being that Georges St. Pierre is only a few fights away from clearing out the UFC welterweight division, is the jump to UFC something you eventually see in your future?

TW: I really just try to stick to my career, my purpose and what I have to do. Right now, Strikeforce is the only organization I fight for so it's tough for me to look out at these other organizations and who's fighting who and whatnot. I'm under contract and I'm being taken care of over here, that's kind of my mindset right now. Would I ever want to fight Georges St. Pierre? Absolutely! It's something I want to get the chance to do before I retire, whether it's in the UFC or whatever. It would be a good thing for my career because he's the best - he's trying to drain out the Matt Hughes thing of having nine welterweight titles. People are focusing on him now because he's top three pound-for-pound, maybe second.

CR: You mentioned in an interview recently that you feel you style poses a threat to current Strikeforce welterweight champion, Nick Diaz. What holes do you see in his game that you feel you can exploit?

TW: They're not really holes, per se. The tempo he brings, the amount of volume he puts on you, he punches non-stop and keeps everyone on their heels. I feel like nobody has really gotten in there and mixed it up with him or really bullied him. Not just bullying him for one exchange or one combo to try to knock him out - to be able to do that for five rounds straight, him having that ability stops him from being on the ground or the ability to put him on the ground. If he gets to the ground, you have to pretty much leave him there 'cause nobody wants to jump in his guard and deal with all that Ceaser Gracie stuff. I think basically he's beaten a lot of people mentally before they even got into the cage. He talks down to his opponents, the stare downs, he really gets guys out of their element and my mental game is my strongest suit, above my wrestling, so I think it's a good fight. I think it's a classic case of good versus evil, ya' know, he's the bad boy of MMA and I stick to bringing integrity and having on a regular face. I think the fans deserve it, but it really doesn't matter to me who's next because, ya' know, patience is a virtue and I'm a patient guy. I feel like this is what God has for me - he has the belt that belongs to the kingdom and it's my job to do the work.

CR: I hear that you're back in school working towards a degree in public administration. Talk a little bit about that. Does it affect your training schedule at all?

TW: It affects my ability to be able to get out of town. I do a lot of night classes and since this is the first year I'm doing it full-time, I'm still able to train during the day and work around it. It's really not too bad, just one extra thing on my plate but down the road I think it's gonna be helpful for a non-profit organization I plan on doing. Ya' know, I graduate in May, man, so I've been blasting through this thing and I'll be freed up next year from school.

CR: You have a fight coming up this Friday, as a matter of fact, with Nathan Coy. Tell us a little bit about your opponent and how the training camp has gone thus far.

TW: Training camp has been awesome! I've kicked it up a notch, I'm no longer just a guy who's in great shape that wrestles. I've done a little bit more with my wrestling, with my strength on my heels, conditioning that pushes me to the point of almost throwing up. I know he's gonna want to get close, he's gonna want to clinch, take me down and work his ground-and-pound but my job is to basically stop anything he wants to do and put him into my mix. Basically frustrate him, make him go for something silly and put him away. It's a tough fight but I'd rather not take a thousand fights like that. I'm on the plane right now with a few guys who are basically on the same path as me - you may not hear about them as often but talent-wise, they're on the same path as me. For me to go to war, I want the reward to match that war. I don't want to face a guy who's really tough but not a lot of people know him, a fight that won't really jump my MMA career forward. Why not face the champion? I don't see many guys in the welterweight division who's style matches well with Diaz' style and would make for an awesome fight for the fans.

CR: Thanks again, Tyron, for taking the time to speak with CageReligion.com before your fight. Is there anything you would like to say to your fans around the world before we get going?

TW: I just want to thank you all for taking interest in my career and what I'm doing. Also, my sponsors who make sure I can train like Tapout, Clinch Gear, StCharlesMMA.com, FullTiltPoker.net, and American Top Team. All of those guys keep me in the game and get me out there internationally. Lastly, thanks to EA Sports and EA MMA for putting me in a video game that my son can play - those guys have been absolutely awesome! For me, I just try to stay humble and not let anything get to my head so I can have a long career beating people up and then giving God's word afterwards.