UFC 209: Woodley vs. Thompson 2 Results

In the main event, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson meet in a rematch four months after their entertaining majority draw.

The first fight on the main card will be in the men’s heavyweight division between Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt.

The pair, who will face off in a rematch after tussling to an entertaining draw during their welterweight title bout at UFC 205 in November, are polite and respectful to each other.

A marked absence of any urgency from the defending champion drew boos from the T-Mobile Arena crowd but the impact of Woodley’s infrequent flurries showed itself midway through the second round as a cut was opened up under Thompson’s left eye.

Speaking to Joe Rogan, Woodley said afterwards: “I was extremely nervous. Sometimes, chess is move by move”. “I know I’ve got the mindset to fight through, and I haven’t felt that in a long time, to just go out there and do whatever the hell I want to do”.

Judges Derek Cleary and Chris Lee on the other hand, gave Woodley the second, third, and fifth rounds.

“My goals have evolved as I’ve developed in this sport”, he said. “But I knew it was close so I was praying and making sure, you know, the belt stayed home”. “Listen, me, the fans and everybody watching. we are not judges”, said White. “The second fight can be not as good”. He also was the first man to record a takedown against Wonderboy since 2012 and was the first fighter to have more significant strikes than Wonderboy in a UFC fight.

“Get in there with Tyron Woodley”.

UFC 209 kicks off at 6:30 p.m. ET with a trio of preliminary bouts on UFC Fight Pass, before the action shifts to FOX Sports 1 at 8 p.m. ET for the remainder of the prelims.

As usual, you can only watch UFC 209 with a pay-per-view. It’s not every day that you could tell Dana White is having a rough one, but he was visibly disappointed by the Nurmagomedov-Ferguson news.

“He thinks he’s tough”, Nurmagomedov said. Hunt happens to be now suing the UFC, President Dana White and Lesnar, alleging racketeering and fraud in the circumstances around his fight last July at UFC 200 against Lesnar, who subsequently failed a doping test. The Australian lost the fight but the bout was later ruled a no contest after Lesnar failed a drugs test.

Snoop Dogg is taking his talents to the UFC commentary booth.

Former light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans remained winless since 2013, dropping a split decision to middleweight Daniel Kelly by scores of 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.

The task of drawing viewers was made even more hard on Friday with the cancellation of the co-main event, a highly anticipated interim lightweight title between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The undercard was highlighted by a spectacular comeback victory for Darren Elkins.

Both statements are true, especially the nod to Thompson’s diverse artillery after years of training in karate and fighting as a kickboxer.