UFC star Colby Covington claims Tyron Woodley was 'paid to hold back' from KOing Jake Paul during controversial fight

TYRON WOODLEY was 'paid to hold back' against Jake Paul, according to UFC star Colby Covington.

The YouTuber won the controversial fight in August but Covington, 33, is not convinced the result was legitimate.

Paul, 24, won his fourth professional boxing fight via a split decision.

Woodley had him rocked in the fourth round but appeared to hesitate when he had the chance to knock the online personality out.

The judges scored it 77-75, 79-74, 75-77 in Paul's favour.

But welterweight ace Covington is having none of it.

He told MMA News: "He [Woodley] had him hurt and concussed bad in the fourth.

"Literally, almost fell out of the ring. And he kind of just held him up.

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"He didn’t try and finish him right there. That was definitely a work, without a doubt.

"You know Tyron Woodley was paid to hold back and not go off on 'snake' Paul.

"So you could tell that Woodley was paid to take a dive and it was a work.

"So not really much you can think about him at work when someone has a bunch of money from YouTube and Disney."

There is no evidence that Woodley was paid to throw the fight.

After a cagey opening three rounds, the contest burst into life in the fourth as Woodley finally went on the offensive.

But things settled back down again towards the end of the eight rounds.

Paul was rocked and hurt for the first time in his 'boxing career' in the fourth. With a minute to go, Woodley, 39, stepped in and went swinging.

Woodley, the shorter of the two men, crashed a huge right hook into Paul's head.

The YouTuber was stunned and fell back into the ropes, struggling to keep himself upright.

SHOWBOATING

But thankfully for him, Woodley decided to wave his arm around to get the crowd going – rather than going in for the killer blow.

That allowed Paul to catch his breath and recover to see out the remaining 40 seconds of the round.

And this seemed to be the main reason fans thought Woodley had been told NOT to knock Paul out.

Paul faces Tommy Fury next with the pair set to meet on December 18 in Tampa, Florida.

And John Fury slammed suggestions his son will get involved in anything untoward.

The 57-year-old – and dad of heavyweight champ Tyson – blasted: "People think that Tommy’s getting paid to lose, they're joking.

"A Fury would rather be put to death than down that road."

Tommy has an undefeated 7-0 record.

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