This Saturday, in Las Vegas, Nevada, the T-Mobile Arena plays host to UFC 209. Despite being met with little hype at its announcement, this card has slowly gained the attention it deserves as the MMA world begins to buzz about the interesting matchups it features, specifically the main event, a rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson.
The last time these two met inside the cage, the fight ended in a majority draw. Tomorrow, both men will be looking to prove they are the rightful champion of the UFC’s welterweight division.
How it went down last time
On November 12, 2016, at UFC 205, Woodley and Thompson fought for the UFC welterweight championship in Woodley’s first title defense. During the first round, Woodley was able to take his opponent to the ground repeatedly and dominated from the top. Thompson had no answer for the champion’s wrestling. Then, something strange happened.
Woodley stopped going for takedowns. Something he even found confusing, telling reporters in a post-fight scrum he wasn't sure why he stopped wrestling. It just happened.
From there, the fight changed drastically. Thompson was able to use his unique offensive style to successfully fend off the champion's advances, until the fourth round when Woodley dropped him to the canvass twice and attacked with a seriously deep guillotine choke.
Thompson was able to free himself with a minute left in the round and landed some devastating shots of his own in round five. The fight was declared a draw, and although he was not the victor, Woodley left New York with the strap.
What you should expect this time
Woodley will definitely be looking to incorporate his dominant wrestling abilities into the entire fight this time around.
But he’s not the only one who feels like he left something in the cage the last time out. Thompson also thinks he could have done more. He recently told reporters he should have pushed the pace harder and used Woodley’s muscular frame against him -- a strategy he intendes to employ on Saturday.
If Woodley can find a way to secure takedowns at a higher rate without tiring himself out, it could be the deciding factor against his much smaller opponent. Thompson's plan to fight at a faster pace, however, should keep him out of range of his opponent's takedowns and tire him out quickly. Expect Thompson's hand to be raised in victory.
