UFC 209: Champ Tyron Woodley earns nod in lackluster fight

Over the past three and a half months Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson fought 10 rounds in the octagon, totaling 50 minutes, yet few people who watched can make strong cases regarding which of the two was better.

The first two rounds had zero significant action as two talented counterpunchers circled and waited to capitalize when the other threw a lazy, obvious strike. In the second round, Elkins was able to withstand the majority of Bektic’s takedown attempts, repeatedly transitioning in the clinch to land strikes. However, if Thompson’s worked on his takedown defence, Woodley could be in for a long night.

That’s the right approach for Woodley to take going forward. The late flurry ultimately sealed the deal for Woodley, who made the second defense of his welterweight title.

By the end of the match, both Woodley and Thompson did not look exhausted at all. In the fourth, with the crowd chanting “fight”, Thompson scored a little with side kicks. It mirrored the first two frames.

It is hard to argue with that sentiment, but the tough reality of mixed-martial arts is that it is those who take the greatest risks and provide the biggest thrills who attain the greatest popularity. The deciding factor might come down to confidence in this case, which Woodley oozes.

The third round saw the champion putting his opponent on a clinch midway and landing some knees but Mr. Thompson managed to survive it and let out some counters of his own. He also defended the fighters, and the sport to the fans by challenging them to get in the cage and fight Woodley or Thompson. Thompson is the slight favorite in Vegas, however, Woodley’s shown his strikes pack a mean bite.

Earlier Mark Hunt’s UFC return didn’t quite go to plan after a knockout loss against Dutch kickboxing expert Alistair Overeem.

When the scorecards were being read by ring announcer Bruce Buffer, Woodley wasn’t sure what to expect them to read.

Speaking to Joe Rogan, Woodley said afterwards: “I was extremely nervous”. “To be honest, my life was a little bit better before I had the belt”.

There’s still plenty of time to fix it this year, but when a 35-year-old Georges St-Pierre can walk in off the street after a three-year layoff and get an immediate title shot a weightclass above what he fought at for years, it feels like the press conferences are becoming more important than the actual fights.

“I feel incredible, I feel great, but overall this doesn’t surprise me”, stated Calvillo. “I was just praying”. Cooper is coming off the back of decision victory over Anna Elmose at UFC Fight Night in Belfast. “I had to play it smart”. “Going in, you say, ‘I want to be aggressive, but when you’re out there vs. Tyron, he’s so powerful”. “I thought I had it”.

“There were moments where maybe I should have faked a shot and came up punching or something like that”, Woodley said.