The second UFC pay-per-view in July is shaping up to be a historical event, as a third title will be on the line when Tyron Woodley defends his welterweight belt vs. Demian Maia. Woodley, co-hosting UFC Tonight Wednesday night, kicked off the program by making the announcement. “I’ll be taking on backpack, backpack. Demian Maia […]
The second UFC pay-per-view in July is shaping up to be a historical event, as a third title will be on the line when Tyron Woodley defends his welterweight belt vs. Demian Maia. Woodley, co-hosting UFC Tonight Wednesday night, kicked off the program by making the announcement. “I’ll be taking on backpack, backpack. Demian Maia […]
The second UFC pay-per-view in July is shaping up to be a historical event, as a third title will be on the line when Tyron Woodley defends his welterweight belt vs. Demian Maia. Woodley, co-hosting UFC Tonight Wednesday night, kicked off the program by making the announcement. “I’ll be taking on backpack, backpack. Demian Maia […]
The second UFC pay-per-view in July is shaping up to be a historical event, as a third title will be on the line when Tyron Woodley defends his welterweight belt vs. Demian Maia. Woodley, co-hosting UFC Tonight Wednesday night, kicked off the program by making the announcement. “I’ll be taking on backpack, backpack. Demian Maia […]
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans would love to see Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Jorge Masvidal battle it out inside the Octagon, and the two top-ranked 170 pounders share those sympathies. Thompson is currently the No. 2-ranked welterweight in the world and is coming off of a majority decision loss to Tyron Woodley for the welterweight […]
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans would love to see Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson and Jorge Masvidal battle it out inside the Octagon, and the two top-ranked 170 pounders share those sympathies.
Thompson is currently the No. 2-ranked welterweight in the world and is coming off of a majority decision loss to Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title at UFC 209. Masvidal currently sits at the No. 4-ranked spot and comes off of a loss of his own, as he was narrowly defeated by Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist Demian Maia at UFC 211 via split decision.
The pair were recently a part of a Q&A session prior to the UFC’s Fight Night event in Singapore. They were asked about the possibility of fighting one another in the near future, to which “Wonderboy” revealed that is the fight he’d like to take next (quotes via MMA Junkie):
“(It’s not official) yet, but we want it,” Thompson said. “We definitely want it, to get together and get out there in the octagon and face off. Obviously, you saw him in his last fight, which I thought he won against Demian Maia. (Masvidal is) a very good striker, and I think it’s going to be fireworks.”
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada USA Today Sports
“Gamebred” also sounded excited about stepping into the cage against a striker the caliber of Thompson, someone Masvidal will have to train especially hard for if their paths cross down the road:
“He does things that nobody really in the division does,” Masvidal said. “The karate that he brings and the high level that he brings, it’s only him that does that. I would have to get in special sparring partners, I’d have to get guys that could mimic that, and I’d have to prepare for it.
“It’s going to happen, man. Hopefully.”
Just after the Q&A UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov took to Twitter to state that he’d love to see Masvidal take on former 155-pound champ Rafael dos Anjos next, as “RDA” had a successful welterweight debut against Tarec Saffiedine that same weekend, but Masvidal instead took a shot at “The Eagle” and stuck to his guns about wanting to take on Thompson:
I want see RDA vs Masvidal. This fight will be a great match up @ufc#welterweight
— Jorge Masvidal UFC (@GamebredFighter) June 17, 2017
As for the UFC welterweight title picture, it has been confirmed that champion Tyron Woodley will be defending his title against Demian Maia next, at a time and date to be determined. If Thompson and Masvidal is the fight that the UFC decides to make next, it would certainly be a viable No. 1-contenders match-up to determine who will meet the winner of Woodley and Maia.
With the recent return of former welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre, however, it makes the 170-pound title picture all the more interesting.
There’s no doubt that UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is ready to get back inside the world famous Octagon to make his next title defense. However, there has been confusion regarding who he will be fighting next. There were rumors that surfaced online on Wednesday that Woodley was going to meet teammate Jorge Masvidal later […]
There’s no doubt that UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is ready to get back inside the world famous Octagon to make his next title defense. However, there has been confusion regarding who he will be fighting next. There were rumors that surfaced online on Wednesday that Woodley was going to meet teammate Jorge Masvidal later this year instead of fighting top-ranked contender Demian Maia. Woodley shot down those rumors during Wednesday’s edition of UFC Tonight on FOX Sports 1. Woodley vowed that Maia is next in line for a title shot. In fact, Woodley stated that he wants the fight at UFC 214 and now he’s just waiting on Maia’s response.
“If you want a showdown with me, you have to meet me July 29, that’s the date,” Woodley said (transcript courtesy of FOX Sports.“The challenger can’t pick the date. You want my belt. So, therefore, I accept the challenge July 29. If you want to get it on, let’s do it, sign the paperwork. You don’t need a vacation. You just had a three-round grappling match. You didn’t get hardly hit. Let’s get it on.”
Maia last competed at UFC 211 in May, which saw him defeat Masvidal by split decision after three rounds. Keep in mind that nothing is official but it’s clear that Woodley is definitely pushing for the fight at the event, and he’s hopeful that Maia will sign on the dotted line.
“He wanted to fight in 2018 from the looks of it, but I can’t wait that long,” Woodley said. “July 29 is a great date for me with the belt, so if you want it, let’s get it.”
UFC 214 is set to take place on July 29th and will be headlined by light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier defending his title against former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Although a co-main event for UFC 214 has yet to be announced, Woodley defending his title against Maia would certainly fit the bill.
Lost in the news of Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather becoming official was Tyron Woodley reporting on his own title defense. The reigning UFC welterweight champion will meet Demian Maia at UFC 214 in July – if Maia agrees. “If you want a showdown with me, you have to meet me July 29, that’s the […]
Lost in the news of Conor McGregor vs. Floyd Mayweather becoming official was Tyron Woodley reporting on his own title defense. The reigning UFC welterweight champion will meet Demian Maia at UFC 214 in July – if Maia agrees. “If you want a showdown with me, you have to meet me July 29, that’s the […]
UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is rumored to be defending his belt at UFC 215, but not against conensus number one contender Demian Maia. Sources close to Woodley’s camp say that Woodley will be defending his welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal, who just recently lost a close decision to Maia at May’s UFC 211 from […]
UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is rumored to be defending his belt at UFC 215, but not against conensus number one contender Demian Maia.
Sources close to Woodley’s camp say that Woodley will be defending his welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal, who just recently lost a close decision to Maia at May’s UFC 211 from Dallas, Texas.
Before the close loss to Maia, Masvidal had rattled off a three-fight win streak culminating in a TKO victory over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone at UFC on FOX 23 earlier this year. “Gamebred” is a former American Top Team (ATT) teammate of the champion’s, but obviously Woodley has little problem with booking the fight.
There’s been no official word yet on if Maia wasn’t offered the champ, but the rumor is that Maia is apparently injured. If he were found to be healthy, it’d be incredibly tough to deny him a long-deserved title shot considering the Brazilian is on an incredible seven-fight win streak. Sources say Woodley has been offered Masvidal at UFC 215 instead, but nothing official has been confirmed as of yet.
Woodley won the belt by knocking out former champ Robbie Lawler in the first round back at UFC 201. Since winning the belt, Woodley had a draw against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at last year’s UFC 205 before defeating him by decision in their rematch at March’s UFC 209, and has since called out for so-called “money fights” with Nick Diaz, Georges St-Pierre, and Michael Bisping.
