TYRON WOODLEY SUCCESSFULLY defended his welterweight belt last night, but his rematch with Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson failed to live up to their previous meeting.
Woodley connects with Thompson's face. John Locher / AP/Press Association Images
John Locher / AP/Press Association Images / AP/Press Association Images
The pair were involved in a thrilling five-round battle in New York back in November — the majority draw earning ‘Fight of the Night’ after a mix-up led to the result being initially announced as a split decision victory for Woodley.
Taking part in the headline fight at UFC 209, Woodley and Thompson produced a much more tactical affair largely lacking in entertainment this time around with the former scraping past the latter by majority decision — 48-47, 47-47, 48-47.
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Woodley is announced the winner. John Locher / AP/Press Association Images
John Locher / AP/Press Association Images / AP/Press Association Images
Boos rang around the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas afterwards as fans were left feeling short-changed, but UFC president Dana White, who scored Wonderboy winning three rounds to two, had a message for them.
“You want to boo sitting up there drinking your beer and eating your popcorn?” White told UFC on Fox.
“Get in there with Tyron Woodley. Get in there with Wonderboy Thompson… Shut up!”
“I had it three to two Wonderboy,” he added. “One of the judges gave Woodley a 10-8 round in the last round, which is absolutely insane.
“But here’s the thing, I tell these guys all the time ‘don’t leave it in the hands of the judges’ but both did that tonight and Woodley came out on top.”
Speaking to Joe Rogan, Woodley said afterwards: “I was extremely nervous. Stephen did a way better job of reading the space. He made it very hard for me to come in close.
“In the last round, I went out there for the kill — I wish I had done that in a few other rounds. But I knew it was close so I was praying and making sure, you know, the belt stayed home.”
While the highly-anticipated match-up between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson was scratched off the card after Nurmagomedov was taken to hospital with weight cut problems on Friday, Alistair Overeem stopped fellow veteran heavyweight Mark Hunt in the second round via a knee to the head.
Elsewhere, middleweight Dan Kelly picked up a split decision win over Rashad Evans, David Teymor earned a unanimous victory in his lightweight bout with Lando Vannata and Cynthia Calvillo submitted Amanda Cooper via first round rear-naked choke in the women’s strawweight division.
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Woodley prevails in Wonderboy rematch to retain UFC title but Dana disagrees with result
TYRON WOODLEY SUCCESSFULLY defended his welterweight belt last night, but his rematch with Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson failed to live up to their previous meeting.
The pair were involved in a thrilling five-round battle in New York back in November — the majority draw earning ‘Fight of the Night’ after a mix-up led to the result being initially announced as a split decision victory for Woodley.
Taking part in the headline fight at UFC 209, Woodley and Thompson produced a much more tactical affair largely lacking in entertainment this time around with the former scraping past the latter by majority decision — 48-47, 47-47, 48-47.
Boos rang around the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas afterwards as fans were left feeling short-changed, but UFC president Dana White, who scored Wonderboy winning three rounds to two, had a message for them.
“You want to boo sitting up there drinking your beer and eating your popcorn?” White told UFC on Fox.
“Get in there with Tyron Woodley. Get in there with Wonderboy Thompson… Shut up!”
“I had it three to two Wonderboy,” he added. “One of the judges gave Woodley a 10-8 round in the last round, which is absolutely insane.
“But here’s the thing, I tell these guys all the time ‘don’t leave it in the hands of the judges’ but both did that tonight and Woodley came out on top.”
Speaking to Joe Rogan, Woodley said afterwards: “I was extremely nervous. Stephen did a way better job of reading the space. He made it very hard for me to come in close.
“In the last round, I went out there for the kill — I wish I had done that in a few other rounds. But I knew it was close so I was praying and making sure, you know, the belt stayed home.”
While the highly-anticipated match-up between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson was scratched off the card after Nurmagomedov was taken to hospital with weight cut problems on Friday, Alistair Overeem stopped fellow veteran heavyweight Mark Hunt in the second round via a knee to the head.
Elsewhere, middleweight Dan Kelly picked up a split decision win over Rashad Evans, David Teymor earned a unanimous victory in his lightweight bout with Lando Vannata and Cynthia Calvillo submitted Amanda Cooper via first round rear-naked choke in the women’s strawweight division.
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