Handout Photo-USA TODAY Sports
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) staged an event in Las Vegas, Nevada last night (Sat., May 30, 2020) for the first time in over two months, as UFC on ESPN 9 went down from inside the promotion’s Apex facility. In the headlining act, Gilbert Burns absolutely dominated Tyron Woodley for five rounds to score the biggest win of his mixed martial arts (MMA) career (see it again here). In the co-headlining act, Augusto Sakai defeated Blagoy Ivanov via split decision.
Biggest Winner: Gilbert Burns
Burns wanted to prove it was time to consider him one of the best Welterweights on the planet, and he did just that by dominating former division king, Tyron Woodley, from pillar to post. It was a clean sweep all across the board for Burns, who opened up with a 10-8 first round and then proceeded to shut “The Chosen One” out for the next 20 minutes, dropping him on a couple of occasions and taking him down whenever he pleased. What was even more impressive is the fact that “Durinho” looked very confident in there from the jump, showing no wasted movement, no jitters and no straying from his gameplan. He simply looked like he belonged among the elite of the elite. With the win, Burns crowds the top of the division a bit more and may have set himself up for a No. 1 contender fight against Leon Edwards; though some think he’s ready for the title shot now.
Runner Up: Mackenzie Dern
Dern needed a huge showing and win in “Sin City” after suffering the first loss of her pro MMA carer in her previous outing against Amanda Ribas last October. Dern made quick work of Hannah Cifers in main card action, submitting her with a slick knee bar that not only put her back in the win column, but earned her an extra $50,000 in post-fight bonus cash. While Mackenzie still has a ways to go to get to a title shot, her win gets her some much-needed confidence and prevents her from falling further down the rabbit hole.
Biggest Loser: Tyron Woodley
Woodley’s first fight in 14 months went just exactly as his previous one: getting dominated for 25 minutes. Indeed, the ex-champ simply didn’t have an answer for Burns, and couldn’t fire off any of his own offense. As was the case in the loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC 235 — which cost him his world title — Woodley simply looked like he was stuck in cement. And that’s not me mocking “The Chosen One,” I’m just surprised that the three-time champion has looked like a shell of his former self in his last two outings. He didn’t look like the same man who prior to UFC 235 hadn’t lost in five years and was involved in six straight title fights. Where it has gone wrong for “The Chosen One” is unclear, but after suffering the first back-to-back losses of his career, Woodley needs to turn it around, and fast, or he will dig himself into a hole that will be troublesome to get out of, as the 170-pound weight class is as deep as it gets. And with the arrival of Burns in the Top 5 soon, it’s only going to be tougher for Woodley to get another shot at the title if he doesn’t get back into the win column soon.
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