Tyron Woodley questions Demian Maia’s decision to fight Jorge Masvidal at UFC 211. Just before Woodley defended his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title at UFC 209, Maia vs. Masvidal was announced. The two will battle on May 13 inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Many fans and analysts were confused with the […]
Tyron Woodley questions Demian Maia’s decision to fight Jorge Masvidal at UFC 211. Just before Woodley defended his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title at UFC 209, Maia vs. Masvidal was announced. The two will battle on May 13 inside the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Many fans and analysts were confused with the […]
For the last year, there has been one rivalry that has dominated the UFC welterweight title picture, which was between welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson. After fighting twice, which were both controversial fights, Woodley retained the belt and now the UFC’s 170-pound division can return to regularly scheduled business. Years ago, it would
For the last year, there has been one rivalry that has dominated the UFC welterweight title picture, which was between welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson. After fighting twice, which were both controversial fights, Woodley retained the belt and now the UFC’s 170-pound division can return to regularly scheduled business. Years ago, it would be assumed that Woodley would now be facing Demian Maia next, but that potential bout is in doubt because Maia is set to fight Jorge Masvidal next weekend at UFC 211.
Woodley spoke about Maia vs. Masvidal at the upcoming event during a recent appearance on the UFC Unfiltered podcast(transcript courtesy ofMMA Fighting). According to Woodley, he thinks Maia made a “bad move” in accepting a non-title fight.
“Unfortunately for Maia, he accepted the fight the week of me and Wonderboy’s fight. In my personal opinion, bad move. Wait and see how the fight went. If nobody came out of the fight hurt, a clear winner, not another draw, you’re already in a position to fight for a world title. Why would you put yourself up against the worst possible matchup outside of a title fight? Why would you put yourself in that position? I don’t want to call him stupid but damn that was stupid.”
Maia is currently on a six-fight win streak in the division. However, even though he has been on fire as of late and beat some top names, Maia was never guaranteed a title shot and made to fight Masvidal instead in what is presumably a No. 1 contenders bout. Woodley is already training for his next title fight which he hopes to be in July. It all depends on how Maia’s fight with Masvidal goes as that could be an awfully quick turnaround for Maia. Woodley has been teasing that it’s somebody else who has yet to sign the papers.
“It’s a lot of fighters that say, ‘I’ll fight anybody, anytime, anywhere,’ but they really don’t mean that. If Conor McGregor wanted to fight me, he has an opportunity to do so. So does Bisping. So does Georges St-Pierre. So does Nick Diaz. So does Nate Diaz. all these guys got a chance to step up to the plate but ain’t nobody picked up the bat. When we announce the fight, that means the contract is signed.”
Woodley is not sure that Maia can beat Masvidal due to Masvidal’s excellent takedown defense and strong striking and distance management. Even if Maia can get past Masvidal, he is not too worried about the outcome.
“If I fight him, he’s getting knocked out. He ain’t getting no takedown. It’s a sprawl, it’s a knockout.”
With a lengthy resume dating back to early 2000s era of MMA, UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal may finally be fighting for a title shot in the world’s biggest MMA outfit when he meets surging No. 3 competitor Demian Maia on the main card of May 13’s massive UFC 211 event from Dallas, Texas. If ‘Gambred’
With a lengthy resume dating back to early 2000s era of MMA, UFC welterweight Jorge Masvidal may finally be fighting for a title shot in the world’s biggest MMA outfit when he meets surging No. 3 competitor Demian Maia on the main card of May 13’s massive UFC 211 event from Dallas, Texas.
If ‘Gambred’ can shock the MMA world and hand Maia his first loss since February of 2014, he could potentially find himself in a welterweight title bout against champion and American Top Team (ATT) stablemate Tyron Woodley, whom he used to train with in Coconut Creek, Florida. However, none of that is even close to guaranteed with Conor McGregor lurking in the shadows of an uncertain fighting future.
Regardless, if and when Masvidal does get lucky enough to face “The Chosen One” for the belt, he’s willing to battle his ATT teammate. “Gamebred” told Submission Radio (courtesy of Bloody Elbow) that he’s known Woodley since his days as a lightweight, where the champ helped him refine his wrestling skills:
“I’ve known Woodley for nine-plus years, ten-plus years. We’ve worked out together plenty. He’s one of the guys who used to slam me all around the place. I was at 155, he was at 170 pounds and he was just the wrestler that is a superpower. So that was one of the dudes that got my wrestling a little better from going with guys like that. He knows where my strengths are, I know where his strengths are.”
But with Woodley now training almost exclusively with Milwaukee’s Roufusport (even though he does own an ATT affiliate gym in his native St. Louis), Masvidal revealed n a recent interview on ‘UFC Tonight’ that neither he nor the champ had any problem fighting each other, likening their potential eventual meeting to that of a famous basketball analogy:
“No (issues fighting). Not on my end, or at Tyron Woodley’s end.We’re both good friends. I get along just fine with Woodley. He’s actually showed me a lot things in the past, and I’ve worked with him in the past training to help him get ready to fight. There’s no hard feelings if me and him had to scrap.
“I’m LeBron and he’s Dwyane Wade. We split up teams, we meet in the Finals,” he said. “We’re going sit out because we were teammates at one point? Hell no. I’m here to get this money. I’ve got kids to feed.”
It’s a fair point from the suddenly surging ‘Gamebred,’ who suddenly emerged as a legitimate threat in the 170-pound division by shocking demolishing Donald Cerrone at UFC on FOX 22 in Denver this year.
If he can buck the odds again and send arguably the most talented submission specialist in MMA to a defeat, he’ll no doubt deserve a bout with his old teammate Woodley.
And that’s just fine with one of the game’s old-school prizefighters.
Tony Ferguson is no stranger to the 170-pound weight division, and he’s not letting anyone forget it. ‘El Cucuy’ burst onto the mixed martial arts (MMA) scene competing in the welterweight division, as he won The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 (TUF 13) at 170 pounds. Ferguson has since returned to his regular home at 155 pounds, currently
Tony Ferguson is no stranger to the 170-pound weight division, and he’s not letting anyone forget it.
‘El Cucuy’ burst onto the mixed martial arts (MMA) scene competing in the welterweight division, as he won The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 (TUF 13) at 170 pounds. Ferguson has since returned to his regular home at 155 pounds, currently on a spectacular nine-fight win streak and holding to No. 2-ranked position in the UFC’s lightweight rankings.
Although he may be on the brink of championship glory at lightweight, Ferguson issued a warning to UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and the entire 170-pound division, during an appearance on ESPN’s 5ive Rounds Podcast, saying he could return to the weight class at the drop of a dime (quotes via MMA Mania):
“You want me to bump up a weight class and fight Tyron Woodley? I sized that dude up too and that dude is not that big. I sized up Wonderboy too. Carlos Condit. You know I got into this UFC game for Georges St-Pierre? Because he was at 170 pounds. When I fought I was 10-2, 11-2 after I won The Ultimate Fighter at 170 pounds.
“That was my 170-pound record, 11-2. I’m 23-3 now. So I’ve been fluctuating between two weight classes. I own 170 and 155. These are my weight classes. You want me to go back up to 170? I’m beefy. I feel good at 170. My wife loves me at 170. So, we’ve got options.”
Neither Ferguson or Woodley have officially been booked for a bout as of this writing, so perhaps the two could get the chance to squash the beef in the near future. It is more likely, however, that Woodley will defend his title against the winner of Jorge Masvidal and Demian Maia at UFC 211 in a few weeks, while Ferguson awaits an interim title bout against another top ranked lightweight contender.
Who would you like to see Ferguson and Woodley matched up with next?
Champions are champions for a reason. But they’re never infallible, especially in a crucible as intense as MMA.
Reams of pixels, if pixels can truly be said to exist on reams, are regularly generated on what makes each reigning UFC champion great…
Champions are champions for a reason. But they’re never infallible, especially in a crucible as intense as MMA.
Reams of pixels, if pixels can truly be said to exist on reams, are regularly generated on what makes each reigning UFC champion great. Still, each man or woman with a belt on his or her mantelpiece has at least one key flaw.
Given what we know about the importance of self-promotion and the current fishbowl nature of our celebrity society and all that stuff, flaws outside the cage can be just as important as flaws inside it.
So let’s take a close look at each of the 11 UFC titleholders and tease out one key weakness for each. We will do this not because we’re drinking “haterade,” but because, hey, we’re all human, and until the robots take over, our human weaknesses should be part of the discourse.
Mike Perry is coming for the UFC welterweight title, and he believes champion Tyron Woodley is expecting him. ‘Platinum’ comes off of a spectacular first round knockout finish over longtime veteran Jake Ellenberger, who has now dropped four of his last five bouts – three of them being by way of finish. Perry on the
Mike Perry is coming for the UFC welterweight title, and he believes champion Tyron Woodley is expecting him.
‘Platinum’ comes off of a spectacular first round knockout finish over longtime veteran Jake Ellenberger, who has now dropped four of his last five bouts – three of them being by way of finish. Perry on the other hand was coming in off of the first loss of his pro mixed martial arts (MMA) career, a unanimous decision loss to Alan Jouban.
After defeating Ellenberger in such dominant fashion Perry believes that it’s time for the welterweight veteran to call it a career (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“I know he had power, man. I’m sure he did,” Perry said. “I mean, top-15, and he’s got all them muscles. We have a very similar body style. But I knew that’s all he wanted, was the right hand. I was setting up the elbows and the left hooks to counter that, that overhand right, and that’s what finished the fight for me. So, I was never worried about his power.
“I think he was taking too long to get back to me, man. Maybe it’s time for him to hang up the gloves. I’d be happy to be his last fight. Maybe he’ll come back and beat somebody up, I don’t know.”
The knockout itself wasn’t the only scary part of the whole ordeal, as it took several minutes for Ellenberger to come to as he received medical attention from personal inside the Octagon. Perry believes Ellenberger will be fine moving forward, and doesn’t think he’ll end up being the first man to kill someone inside the Octagon:
“Man, y’all hear how I talk and how I talk about these people,” Perry said. “I don’t think I’m the guy who’s going to be the first dude to kill somebody in the UFC. I think that I have clean knockouts, and with a clean knockout, people go to sleep, but then they wake up and they’ll heal up, they’ll be fine. People do this, we get hit everyday. I’ve seen bad knockouts before. If that were to happen, man, I always pray for my protection and their protection, but I pray for victory too. I’ve got to win, so that’s how I win. That’s how I do it.”
Photo by Christopher Hanewinckel for USA TODAY Sports
Finally returning to his winning ways and continuing his vicious knockout streak, Perry says he’s gunning for the UFC welterweight strap – and he believes current division champ Tyron Woodley is expecting him:
“Here I come,” Perry said. “They see me, they don’t want to fight me. They don’t want to get hit with that power. Alan Jouban did well, he ran, he moved. He ran real fast. But you know what, I went into that fight with a gameplan, and I usually don’t do that. I don’t know, I was trying to be a different type of fighter in that fight. And tonight I came in here composed, acting like I do this everyday, because I do.
“So, the rest of the you that do this everyday who ain’t doing it with me, I’m coming for you and you’re probably coming for me. We’re in each other’s way. You know I’m climbing to the top. I’ve seen Tyron Woodley on many occasions and I think he believes in me. He thinks I’m coming to see him, and I am.”
