Just when you thought Tyron Woodley’s was going to show you why he’s the perfect candidate for a bout to decide the new Strikeforce Welterweight Champion, he goes and does what he did against Jordan Mein. You then start to wonder if you’ll even be able to stay awake for the time when Woodley goes out to win the belt.
That’s how some might see it, but you can’t really blame them.
Once upon a time, Woodley had a good wrestling background, a strong wrestling base and a willingness to strike, but then something happened.
It started with Tarec Saffiedine, whom he handled en route to a unanimous decision win, but that one was forgivable, as was the unanimous decision win over Paul Daley.
Saffiedine’s striking was nothing like Daley’s at the time, but Saffiedine did have a good submission game, and Woodley needed to neutralize it.
Such was the case with Daley’s striking, but then Jordan Mein came along. That’s where we can argue that Woodley needs to evolve.
Even though Mein was an up-and-coming prospect and an underdog that got signed to fight Woodley with a little less than a month to go before the event, Woodley was still expected to dominate him en route to handing him a defeat.
“Dominate” is what he did to Mein, but it was not the kind of domination many pundits had in mind, and it was noted throughout the fight that despite the elbows and the one keylock attempt from his back, Mein was not doing enough off his back to make too much of an argument to taking two rounds away from Woodley.
Woodley’s wrestling is not in question, and it never will be as long as his name is thrown around in MMA circles, but his unwillingness to finish opponents when he has the opportunity to transition and finish concerning. If Woodley does not show a willingness to at least show the other facets of his game, it’ll be tough to know how Woodley truly stacks up among the best in the world at 170 pounds.
He doesn’t have to finish, but sooner or later, he will have to once again show that he can take the fight to a different realm after putting his opponent into his most defined area of battle.
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