AND STILL! Woodley Settles It, Surges Late To Drop Wonderboy And Defend Title

Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson made their way down to the octagon at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada to square off for the second time. Woodley hoped to prove to the world that he truly is one of the best of all time with a successful championship defense. Thompson’s goal was to strap the welterweight championship around his waist. Neither man fought with a similar gameplan as last time, and they fought with the utmost caution in tonight’s main event which left the crowd restless and upset.

Regardless, Thompson fought smart and stuck to the center of the octagon, forcing Woodley to circle around. He kept a safe distance from Tyron and fired off his attacks from a decent distance, allowing him to slip or dodge any of Woodley’s lunging attacks.

Thompson took to the center of the octagon and Woodley circled around, waiting for his moment to jump in and strike. The two have shared the octagon for twenty-five minutes previous to this fight starting and they know what kind of power the other possesses; As a result of this, the feeling out process was longer than usual and lasted nearly two rounds.

Woodley charged in and Thompson responded with a front-leg side kick, making Woodley think twice about jumping in again. Thompson had Woodley’s back against the octagon fence and easily slipped away from the champion’s straight right. A lunging straight from Thompson caught Woodley on the jaw, but it did not faze him one bit. As the horn sounded in the opening round, the commentator pointed out there was a combined six strikes landed for both men.

Woodley took to the center of the octagon with his feet flat, clearly cocking his right hand. He fired it off and whiffed completely due to the distance between him and Thompson. Woodley started throwing to the chest of Thompson who constantly backed away from every shot Woodley tried to throw.

The feeling out process resumed in the second round as Thompson took to the center of the octagon, waiting for Woodley to fire off a strike so he could counter. Woodley’s strikes were few and far between but when he lunged, he would land with glancing right hands. The round ended with neither man gaining the true upperhand and fans did not like that one bit.

Woodley shot for a takedown right off the bat in the third round but was able to defend for a brief moment. Woodley clasped his hands and ultimately brought Thompson to the mat, working to transition. Woodley trapped the arm of Thompson behind his back and fired off a few shots to the body and head of Thompson who had no choice but to absorb them.

Once they made it back to their feet, Woodley had Thompson in a clinch and they both landed dangerous shots. The two separated and found their way back to the center of the octagon, but the inactivity resumed. Thompson continued to pick his shots and switched angles constantly, keeping Woodley guessing where to defend next.

Thompson’s attack in the third round was concentrated on the body, making it look like he was going to go high before switching to the midsection of Woodley. The same pace would pick back up in the fourth round leading to the fans getting restless, demanding Woodley and Thompson to “fight”.

A spinning wheel kick from Thompson would wake the crowd up, but it barely landed on Woodley. The rest of the round saw Thompson control every aspect of the fight.

Woodley pushed the pace a great deal in the final round, taking the center of the octagon from Thompson. Woodley tried to close the distance with a right hand, but Thompson hopped backwards and stopped all the momentum of the punch with a sidekick to the gut. Thompson’s approach in this fight was masterful and although it wasn’t as entertaining as the fans in T-Mobile Arena wanted it to be, they could not deny he took minimal damage in a championship fight.

Woodley charged with less than thirty seconds left to go and folded him. Thompson was able to wake up and escape danger. Woodley fired off shot after shot and somehow, Thompson survived.

Tyron Woodley def. Stephen Thompson by way of Majority Decision (48-47, 47-47, 48-47)