I’m the new Wesley Snipes of Bollywood: Tyron Woodley

We were the first to tell you about Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Tyron ‘T-Wood’ Woodley aka The Chosen 1 being all set to make his Bollywood debut in Salman Khan-starrer Sultan (‘T-Wood in B-Town’; dna After Hrs; Dec 5, 2015).

The athlete was in India since November 2015 at the time and had a lot to say about Salman on his Instagram page. He wrapped his portion of the shoot on December 1 and headed back to train for his next fight (UFC 201), which takes place this July 30. While we weren’t able to catch up with him then, we did manage to get him to talk ahead of his upcoming bout, about the experience of working with Salman at length, about his role in the film, the possibility of a Bollywood career (should the opportunity come knocking) and his acting career, in general...

Sultan releases on July 6, by which time you’ll be prepping for UFC 201 (July 30). Can we expect you to return to India for the film’s promotions or for the premiere?

I will not be at the premiere. But I will be fighting for the world welterweight title at UFC 201 on July 30 in Atlanta, Georgia, therefore my training is at its height. I’m in the heat of the moment right now and I can’t afford to make a trip to India for the premiere. But hopefully, they’ll have a private screening of it at the UFC International Fight Week and if they do, I will be there to showcase this great film to the world.

We’ve all read the Instagram posts, but tell us more of your interactions with Salman Khan — the actor and the person — during your stay here.

I got the VIP treatment at the hotels, all the people doing the valet parking, answering the front door at the fitness centres, all ask me like ‘How’s Salman? What does he smell like? What does he look like? Is he nice? Did he speak to you?’ They say Bollywood is heaven and he is their god. They worship him here. Imagine Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Robert Downey Jr, Samuel L Jackson, all of these people multiplied by 20. That’s what Salman Khan is to India. It was crazy as I didn’t know a lot about him, I’m honest enough to admit that. But when I got over there, he was well receptive to a lot of the different techniques. When he’s on set, he’s a professional and that’s why he’s been in the game for so long. He’s just a really humble guy.

What’s your role in the film?

My role in the movie is of an MMA fighter competing within the tournament in the movie. It was a decent role. It was great working with Salman, it was great hospitality shown, and it was very professional. I was actually thoroughly impressed.

Should you get more offers from Bollywood after the film’s release, will you consider doing more films here? We do make more movies than anyone else, after all! Not to mention, an active MMA scene.

I would love do more Bollywood films. I told them that I’m the new Wesley Snipes of Bollywood, so get ready. My visa is still locked down for a year, so I would definitely look forward to doing more Bollywood films. Sometimes, in America, we have a preconceived notion of what another country is like. But I almost dropped a few tears when I had to leave. It was just an amazing experience. And I’m glad I got that opportunity to go over.

What would you be if not in MMA?

A lot of people don’t realise that I’ve been in more films than most UFC fighters. I was in Agents of SHIELD, the television show. I’ve just recently done The Last Ship, and I’ve also done Sons Of Anarchy. I did a Pepsi commercial. I also had the opportunity to do Olympus Has Fallen, as well as Straight Outta Compton, which was a blockbuster hit. I’ve been really blessed to do a few commercials and TV shows and movies.