Tyron Woodley has sympathy for Demian Maia, kind of. “The Chosen One” is well aware of Maia’s rough spot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) welterweight division. Few would deny that Maia is worthy of a shot at 170-pound gold. He was promised a title opportunity, but instead Woodley has a title rematch with Stephen […]
Tyron Woodley has sympathy for Demian Maia, kind of. “The Chosen One” is well aware of Maia’s rough spot in the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) welterweight division. Few would deny that Maia is worthy of a shot at 170-pound gold. He was promised a title opportunity, but instead Woodley has a title rematch with Stephen […]
The UFC has put together a stacked card for its UFC 209 event this Saturday, March 4, in Las Vegas. In the main event, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley takes on Stephen Thompson in a rematch of their November 2016 draw at UFC 205, which was one of t…
The UFC has put together a stacked card for its UFC 209 event this Saturday, March 4, in Las Vegas. In the main event, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley takes on Stephen Thompson in a rematch of their November 2016 draw at UFC 205, which was one of the most competitive and compelling fights of the year.
The rest of the event is full of both meaningful and entertaining matchups. The co-main event is one of the very best fights the UFC can put together right now, an interim title fight featuring surging lightweights Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. The two fighters have combined to go 20-1 in 21 total UFC bouts and might just be the two best fighters in the division ruled by Conor McGregor.
The lightweight scrap between Lando Vannata and David Teymur features a pair of entertaining, up-and-coming strikers in a great action fight, while a heavyweight banger pitting Mark Hunt and Alistair Overeem against each other in a rematch nine years in the making opens the main card. Former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans makes his middleweight debut against Dan Kelly.
Promising prospects litter the preliminary card. Blue-chip featherweight youngster Mirsad Bektic gets a big step up in competition against Darren Elkins, while bantamweight Luke Sanders gets a huge matchup with Iuri Alcantara. The light heavyweight fight between Tyson Pedro and Paul Craig, the Fight Pass headliner, will crown the most worthy young up-and-comer in that talent-starved division.
Tyron Woodley doesn’t think Georges St-Pierre wants any part of him inside the Octagon. ‘The Chosen One’ finally climbed his way to the top of the 170-pound division when he knocked out Robbie Lawler in grisly fashion to secure his first UFC title back in July. Woodley then made his first title defense against Stephen
Tyron Woodley doesn’t think Georges St-Pierre wants any part of him inside the Octagon.
‘The Chosen One’ finally climbed his way to the top of the 170-pound division when he knocked out Robbie Lawler in grisly fashion to secure his first UFC title back in July. Woodley then made his first title defense against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson in the co-main event of UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden, where the ‘Fight Of The Night’-winning bout ended in a majority draw.
Soon after the bout’s conclusion, Woodley began campaigning for ‘money fights’ against some of the welterweight division’s biggest names, and one of those names was former 170-pound kingpin Georges St-Pierre. Instead Woodley signed on to defend his title in a rematch with Thompson in the main event of UFC 209 this weekend (Sat. March 4, 2017), meanwhile ‘GSP’ has signed a new multi-fight deal with the UFC to return to the Octagon.
Woodley recently spoke to ESPN ahead of his rematch with Thompson and touched on GSP’s return, where ‘The Chosen One’ stated ‘Rush’ doesn’t want to fight him in fear of getting a concussion:
“Let’s not get it twisted, part of the reason he left the sport was concussions,” said Woodley. “He doesn’t seem to be extremely thrilled to get in there with somebody that can punch him to the point of getting dropped and suffering a concussion – an ugly, grueling fight.
“I’m a guy who makes that fight for him. I have the highest takedown defense in the entire welterweight division, maybe the second-highest on the UFC roster. It’s going to be very hard for him to take me down and keep me down.”
St-Pierre is all set to return to fighting action, and all he needs now is an opponent. Woodley believes the Canadian will be watching this weekend’s welterweight title match-up intently and hoping he doesn’t retain his title.
If ‘Wonderboy’ emerges victorious Woodley believes that is the fight St-Pierre will begin to campaign for as he doesn’t present the same stylistic issues for ‘Rush’ that Woodley could:
“I think they want to see how this fight plays out. If ‘Wonderboy’ comes up with a victory, I think we’ll see him try to fight ‘Wonderboy.’
“[Thompson] has a crazy style and he has knocked guys out, but how many times has he stood in the pocket and just thrown heavy leather [and] let them damn UFC gloves fly and knock somebody out? Never.”
There are potential match-ups for St-Pierre outside of the welterweight division, as bouts with UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping and lightweight champion Conor McGregor also interest the former 170-pound champ.
Woodley then began to heavily poke at his fellow FS1 analyst Michael Bisping’s reign as champion, stating that Bisping himself doesn’t even believe he is the best 185-pound fighter in the world. He was simply at the right place at the right time:
“A smaller guy like [lightweight champion] Conor McGregor or a heavier guy like [middleweight champion] Michael Bisping who we all know is an overachiever in that division.
“Bisping knows he’s not the best middleweight. He’s just a guy who is tough, seized his moment and became the champion of the world. There’s nothing bad about that, but those are way better options for [St-Pierre] than fighting somebody like me, who has been looking at him for many years, is a better wrestler, punches harder and has been more active in the last three years.”
Tyron Woodley and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson are set to clash on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the UFC welterweight championship. The fight promises to be a close contest between two of the welterweight division’s brightest stars. Woodley and Thompson fought to a thrilling majority draw decision in their first fight, […]
Tyron Woodley and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson are set to clash on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas for the UFC welterweight championship. The fight promises to be a close contest between two of the welterweight division’s brightest stars. Woodley and Thompson fought to a thrilling majority draw decision in their first fight, […]
Tyron Woodley wouldn’t be opposed to a bout with Georges St-Pierre, but he feels the fight may be hazardous to “Rush’s” health. “The Chosen One” defends his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title this Saturday night (March 4) inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada against Stephen Thompson. The two will battle in the […]
Tyron Woodley wouldn’t be opposed to a bout with Georges St-Pierre, but he feels the fight may be hazardous to “Rush’s” health. “The Chosen One” defends his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title this Saturday night (March 4) inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada against Stephen Thompson. The two will battle in the […]
The following article was published on this day five years ago. It is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives. On This Day Five Years Ago… [ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 27, 2017, 10:04 PM] Khabib Nurmagomedov is not the first person who would spring to mind for many looking…
The following article was published on this day five years ago. It is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives.
On This Day Five Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 27, 2017, 10:04 PM]
Khabib Nurmagomedov is not the first person who would spring to mind for many looking for an explanation of romantic comedy plots.
That being said, there are many out there who would agree wholeheartedly with his interpretations. theChive caught up with the Russian fighter ahead of his lightweight interim championship title fight at UFC 209 this coming Saturday, as part of a sponsored media exercise prior to the most anticipated card of 2017 so far.
Nurmagomedov was given a number of plots of popular “chick-flicks” and asked how he felt about each of them. The opportunity to take a jaunt into the world of movie reviews seemed as equally bemusing to Khabib as it must to those who have watched the clip. This, however, is comedy gold.
There are potential match-ups for St-Pierre outside of the welterweight division, as bouts with UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping and lightweight champion Conor McGregor also interest the former 170-pound champ.