Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley breaks down the next 170-pound title fight between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns.
If there’s anyone that could credibly break down a welterweight title fight between Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns, it’s Tyron Woodley. His last two fights were against these men, and both of them defeated the former 170-pound champ by a wide margin. Woodley didn’t have the best nights in the office against these two, but he’s a student of the game and he knows their strengths and weaknesses very well.
As a guest on UFC Unfiltered, T-Wood broke down the fight and seemed to give Gilbert the advantage (transcribed by MMA Junkie):
“He has power. He has more power than Usman. He’s a better grappler than Usman, jiu-jitsu wise, but I think the striking – he may not be better, but he does punch a little bit harder, and it’s going to be a point where it has to go to the ground. We all just can be real: Gilbert’s gonna win that ground fight. Maybe not from his back, but if he finds a way on top or a position where he can take the back, it’s a problem.”
He continued on, this time about Usman:
“Usman’s above average everywhere, but he’s not excellent anywhere,” Woodley said. “But he’s a good implementer. He’s above average everywhere, but he’s not excellent anywhere, but he’s excellent at putting it together. He’s excellent at making adjustments within a fight.
“Whether you like watching him take Masvidal down or not, he never did one takedown against Colby, and Leon Edwards he struck and when it was time to take down, he went for the takedown. So he’s very good at putting it together, and he’s going to have to do that against Burns.”
Usman vs. Burns hasn’t been made official as of yet, but UFC president Dana White has stated that it will be a thing. Burns was originally supposed to challenge Usman for the title at UFC 251, but tested positive for COVID-19 and was replaced on short notice by Jorge Masvidal. Usman largely dominated Masvidal and took a wide decision victory. Burns is expected to challenge for the title some time in late 2020.