Demian Maia doesn’t plan on walking away from the sport of mixed martial arts just yet. In what could’ve been his final title opportunity, Maia couldn’t find an answer for Tyron Woodley’s takedown defense. Last night (July 29), Maia suffered a unanimous decision loss to “The Chosen One” inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. […]
Demian Maia doesn’t plan on walking away from the sport of mixed martial arts just yet. In what could’ve been his final title opportunity, Maia couldn’t find an answer for Tyron Woodley’s takedown defense. Last night (July 29), Maia suffered a unanimous decision loss to “The Chosen One” inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. […]
Tyron Woodley successfully retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title against Demian Maia and the boo birds followed. Last night (July 29), Woodley and Maia fought for the 170-pound gold in the co-main event of UFC 214. The action took place inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. “The Chosen One” and Maia went […]
Tyron Woodley successfully retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title against Demian Maia and the boo birds followed. Last night (July 29), Woodley and Maia fought for the 170-pound gold in the co-main event of UFC 214. The action took place inside the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. “The Chosen One” and Maia went […]
Dana White has pulled the old bait-and-switch on us yet again. Only days after saying that returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre would meet the winner of the welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and Demain Maia in the co-main event of last night’s UFC 214 after GSP’s rumored fight with Michael Bisping was a […]
Dana White has pulled the old bait-and-switch on us yet again.
Only days after saying that returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre would meet the winner of the welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and Demain Maia in the co-main event of last night’s UFC 214 after GSP’s rumored fight with Michael Bisping was a ‘ship that had sailed,’ White laid into Woodley vs. Maia at the post-fight press conference after the bout failed to deliver in any way:
“What’d you think about watching the Woodley Maia fight? Listen, when you break a record for most for the leat punches in a five-round fight, a title fight, and you beat it by, it was 130 and these guys threw 60 or something like that, I think that sums it up.”
White was then asked if St-Pierre vs. Bisping was back on due to the lackluster nature of Woodley’s performance, to which the outspoken executive replied it was indeed was before explaining why:
“Yep. Yep. There you go. Because I know Michael Bisping will fight. Michael Bisping will show up and he will fight, so I’m gonna give it to him.”
Photo: Joe Camporeale – USA TODAY Sports
Now, it’s fair to say that the long-tenured “Count,” who’s no doubt as reliable as any fighter in UFC history, isn’t exactly known for putting on the most earth-shattering performances in the octagon, as many online have perhaps given him a reputation for having no knockout power at all.
But with his recent finish of Luke Rockhold to win the belt at 2016’s UFC 199 coupled with his close, exciting victories over Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson, it’s hard to argue that Bisping is not exciting and willing to bring the action to his opponents. St-Pierre has obviously garnered his own reputation for being a safe, calculating fighter – perhaps more so than any other competitor in MMA after his upset loss to Matt Serra.
Taking that into account, a bout pitting a safe fighter like ‘GSP’ against Woodley, a champion with all the well-rounded skills in the world who simply appears to refuse to use them at times, has correctly been deemed a fight that would not be entertaining to the fans. Of course, interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker should be getting the next rightful shot at the UFC 185-pound belt, but a knee injury suffered in his impressive decision victory over Yoel Romero at UFC 213 will keep him out of action until 2018.
White said Whittaker would fight the winner of Bisping vs. St-Pierre, but he did not yet have a date for the bout, which was revealed at a press conference prior to UFC 209 this March, an event where Woodley ironically put on another highly tentative performance versus Stephen Thompson.
UFC 214 emanated tonight (Saturday, July 29, 2017) from the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. The main event saw perhaps the conclusion to the greatest grudge match in MMA history, as Daniel Cormier took on Jon Jones for the second time. The first two rounds were competitive as Cormier pressured forward and tried to land […]
UFC 214 emanated tonight (Saturday, July 29, 2017) from the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. The main event saw perhaps the conclusion to the greatest grudge match in MMA history, as Daniel Cormier took on Jon Jones for the second time.
The first two rounds were competitive as Cormier pressured forward and tried to land punches upstairs between intermittent leg kicks. Meanwhile, Jones’ kicking game paid dividends. He struck the legs of his bitter rival with round kicks and his signature – though controversial – oblique kicks. Jones also went to the body with digging front kicks and upstairs with head kicks. Cormier continued to move forward all the while, doing his best to make it a boxing match.
But Jones brought it to a close in round three. A head kick wobbled the granite-chinned Cormier, and Jones pursued the finish with calculated aggression. After driving Cormier to the floor, Jones finished the job with ground and pound against the fence. The loss marked the first time the former Olympian had been finished in MMA competition.
The co-main event was a borderline unwatchable fight, which seems to have become commonplace for the welterweight champion, Tyron Woodley. Tyron stuffed every one of challenger Demian Maia’s takedowns, forcing the legendary Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace to engage with him on the feet. But Woodley refused to pursue the finish, instead pot-shotting his way to a abysmally lackluster decision victory.
Check out how MMA Twitter reacted to these two pivotal bouts below:
MY EVIL DOPPELGANGER IS SUPPOSED TO FIGHT NEXT. GENTLEMEN, PLEASE WRAP UP YOUR NOT-FIGHTING #ufc214
Tyron Woodley defeated Demian Maia via unanimous decision to retain his title as UFC welterweight champion in the co-main event from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Bloody Elbow tweeted out the official scores:
Maia may have been passiv…
Tyron Woodley defeated Demian Maia via unanimous decision to retain his title as UFC welterweight champion in the co-main event from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Bloody Elbow tweeted out the official scores:
Maia may have been passive in his first shot at UFC gold, but he certainly wasn’t in this one. The jiu-jitsu practitioner went right to work, shooting for takedown after takedown. Not only did Woodley defend the takedowns, but he also shut Maia’s left eye in the process.
With multiple takedown attempts stuffed and no answers in the stand-up department, it wasn’t looking so good for Maia. Andreas Hale of Champions Fight summed up the situation for the challenger:
While Woodley spent almost the entire first round fending off takedown attempts, the second round saw him pick up some offense. The champion landed an overhand right that floored Maia, then encouraged him to get back up for the striking game:
That would be about the only highlight in the second round. As Sherdog noted, Woodley took a patient approach that may not have been the most exciting thing for fans, but it ensured that he was winning the round:
As the fight wore on into the later rounds, the moments of action were fewer and farther between. While Woodley continued to fight smartly, stuffing takedowns and answering with jabs and overhand rights, the crowd wasn’t necessarily impressed.
If T-Wood wants to be a UFC superstar, these aren’t the kinds of performances that will help him in that department:
Regardless of how exciting the fight may or may not have been, Woodley’s elite takedown defense was on display throughout the bout. The UFC shared an example of textbook takedown defense from the former All-American wrestler:
The crowd let their displeasure with the fight’s plodding pace be known, per Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting:
If a fighter isn’t truly a champion until they defend their belt, this win gives a new layer of legitimacy to Woodley’s title reign. This is the first time he’s defended the belt against someone not named Stephen Thompson.
Back-to-back fights against Thompson left the rest of the welterweight division in a state of flux. However, a win over Maia cements Woodley’s spot at the top.
Maia’s second title fight of his career came on the heels of an impressive seven-fight win streak that included submission wins over Carlos Condit and Matt Brown and a decision win over Jorge Masvidal.
Woodley doesn’t see this as a title reign-defining win, though. It’s just another step toward his quest to be considered the greatest of all time.
“It’s one step, but it’s not a huge step to be honest,” Woodley said on Monday’s media conference call, per MMA Junkie. “Obviously there’s a guy named Georges St-Pierre that’s out there talking about still fighting. There’s other welterweights like Nick Diaz, who is, in my opinion, a lineal top 10, top 5 welterweight. There’s other fights and other things that could make me the greatest welterweight.”
The aforementioned St-Pierre is generally considered the gold standard for the 170-pound division, and his second title reign included nine defenses.
T-Wood’s number is now up to two. Three, if you include a draw in his first fight with Thompson.
It’s possible his next defense will be against the very man he’s trying to measure up to. UFC President Dana White announced the plan is for Woodley to now take on GSP in his next title defense, per MMA Fighting.
If that ends up being the case, Woodley’s campaign to become a superstar will certainly be put to the test welcoming back a legend to the UFC.
He may have been chasing a ‘money fight’ with Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz ever since he won the title over Robbie Lawler last summer, but welterweight champion Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley had to settle for surging jiu-jitsu artist Demian Maia for the co-main event of tonight’s (Sat., July 29, 2017) UFC 214 from the […]
He may have been chasing a ‘money fight’ with Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz ever since he won the title over Robbie Lawler last summer, but welterweight champion Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley had to settle for surging jiu-jitsu artist Demian Maia for the co-main event of tonight’s (Sat., July 29, 2017) UFC 214 from the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Although he may have been becoming more known for his claims of racism in the UFC rather than his performances as of late, where he had a tendency to alternate earth-shaking knockouts with tentative snoozefests, ‘The Chosen One’ was also quietly becoming one of few UFC champions who defended his belt against legitimately deserving top contenders throughout his reign. After a rollercoaster of a rivalry with Stephen Thompson where the fighters put on a “Fight of the Night”-winning brawl at last November’s UFC 205 before letting fans down with a letdown at UFC 209 this March, the Missouri native met up with Maia.
Often regarded as arguably the best jiu-jitsu practitioner to ever fight in mixed martial arts, Maia had won seven straight fights to finally earn another UFC title shot after failing in his bid against all-time great former middleweight champion Anderson Silva in an infamously bad bout in Abu Dhabi over seven years ago. Since then, the respectful grappling wiz had returned to his ground skill, submitting stalwarts Carlos Condit, Neil Magny, and Matt Brown during his streak.
Round One:
The pivotal 170-pound bout began with Maia pressuring to the fence. He went for a takedown immediately but Woodley shucked it off to applause from the crowd. Maia was cut over his eye and was bleeding as he stalked for a takedown again. Woodley defended yet again and landed a strike. Maia shot from far away, grabbing a leg, but was again stifled.
Maia landed a stiff shot of his own, but his latest takedown attempt wouldn’t work. The two traded shots, with Maia landing a straight. A bit of a staring contest came until Woodley threw a lazy overhand and a hook that was blocked. “The Chosen One” sprawled out one more takedown, and the second half of the round featured a much slower pace than the grueling first half of the frame between two fighters not exactly known for their bottomless gas tanks.
Round Two:
In the second round, Maia came out pushing the pace, but Woodley struck back with a strong rushing punch. Maia responded with his straight left, but Woodley then knocked him down with a hard strike. Referee Herb Dean made Maia stand up, and Woodley began taunting him. The champ stalked the Brazilian down, landing a right as Maia shot for a sloppy takedown. Woodley worked the body and broke free of more grappling as he avoided his tenth takedown. Woodley landed again and defended a takedown. Maia was throwing wild straight shots, but the titleholder avoided them as the action once again slowed toward the end of the round.
Round Three:
The third round kicked off with a takedown that had no chance from Maia. Maia threw his left but ate a counter right followed by another from Woodley. He scored a punch to the body and went with a right hook upstairs. Woodley taunted to boos from the crowd. The champ rushed forward with two right hands, but more boos soon came when the action once again slowed a brutal pace. Woodley was landing, but sparingly. Maia landed a left and Woodley a counter. The champion threw some straight right shots and Maia scored an inside leg kick as the third round ended to a loud chorus of boos from the fans.
Round Four:
Maia was bloody and bruised to start the fourth frame, his eyes nearly swollen shut. Woodley landed a body punch and Maia shot again, once again unable to complete his takedown attempt. Maia transitioned his left hand to a takedown attempt and was deep on a single, but again the champ escaped. Woodley landed a body shot and threw a straight right. He followed with a good shot and Maia landed an inside leg kick. The boos came back and Woodley landed two rights that snapped Maia’s head back for a split second as the fourth round ended with even louder boos.
Round Five:
The final round kicked off with a deep double leg attempt from Maia. Woodley wasn’t having any of it again, marking an 0/17 rate for Maia. It was soon 0/18, 0/19, and 0/20 with a matter of seconds as the crowd chanted “boring.” Glancing strikes were traded with Maia landing his straight left. The crowd began waving their cell phone flashlights in the air due to boredom. Woodley sprawled one more takedown try. The champion scored a stiff right hand and Maia a left, but the title bout wore down with Maia missing his 24th takedown attempt as the crowd roared boos down on the men.
Final Result: Tyron Woodley def. Demian Maia via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)
Tyron Woodley defeated