The 5 greatest UFC Welterweights of the decade (2010-2019)

#2 Tyron Woodley

Tyron Woodley's title reign was a dominant one

Another import from StrikeForce, Tyron Woodley went on a 5-1 run in that promotion from 2010 to 2011, with his only loss coming to Nate Marquardt. And once he entered the UFC, he showed how good he could be by destroying the likes of Jay Hieron, Josh Koscheck, Carlos Condit and Dong Hyun Kim with his brutally heavy striking game.

‘The Chosen One’ was slowed down somewhat by a pair of losses to Jake Shields – a controversial decision – and Rory MacDonald, but reached the top of the mountain in 2016, when he knocked out champion Robbie Lawler with a brutal right hand to claim the UFC Welterweight title. At the time, it felt like a new era had begun for the division.

From there, Woodley went onto have the most dominant title reign we’d seen in a number of years, turning back the challenges of Stephen Thompson (twice), Demian Maia and Darren Till to mark himself out as one of the greatest 170lbers of all time. The fights weren’t always that exciting, but nobody could deny that Woodley largely outclassed his opposition.

The former NCAA Division I All-American wrestler was beaten for the title by Kamaru Usman earlier this year, but his accomplishments prior to that fight mark him out as the second-best Welterweight of the decade; nobody else was able to put together as many successful title defences following Georges St-Pierre’s retirement.