Well-Roundedness and X-Factors:
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It’s safe to say that both fighters possess extremely well-rounded MMA skill-sets, with Woodley evolving from being a grapple-heavy decision-machine in his Strikeforce days to a decent standup fighter with a lethal right hand; and with Wonderboy maturing into a well-rounded fighter rather than a one-dimensional kickboxer owing to his work with Matt Serra, Ray Longo and Chris Weidman among others.
Both fighters have a great chin and have shown an iron will regardless of whether the fight goes their way or not.
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From Wonderboy surviving his previous fight despite being rocked and dropped multiple times by Woodley, and Woodley himself surviving the 3-round shellacking delivered on to him by Macdonald; the two combatants know how to survive through the thick and thin inside the cage.
Now although these two modern day gladiators seem extremely well-matched as far as the intangibles are concerned, one can’t help but question Woodley’s emotional state coming into this matchup, especially considering his recent fallout with UFC President and in T-Wood’s own words, the ‘biggest drama queen’, Dana White.
Tyron has repeatedly stated over the past year that he is anything but emotional and that nothing in this world is capable of fazing him mentally. Nevertheless, facts are facts, and no human is immune to emotions. Here’s Woodley addressing his verbal back-and-forth with the UFC brass:
That said, coming emotionally charged-up into a fight with someone as slippery, accurate and intelligent as Stephen Thompson, is a bad idea nonetheless.
Sensei Tiger Says: With both fighters being just as Well-Rounded as the other, I think Wonderboy has the mental edge going into 209 owing to Woodley being an emotional mess due to his recent...ahem...’Drama-Queen’ controversies.
Pick:
This is the hurt business and no one can be counted out. That said, this matchup goes either of two ways:
#1 Wonderboy avoids the takedown and keeps the fight at long-range whilst he avoids throwing rear-leg head-kicks. The karateka must stick to front leg slap kicks and jabs to keep Woodley at bay, retaining his usual strategy of constant stance switching after every couple of exchanges. Scenario 1 sees Thompson cruising to a Unanimous Decision win.
#2 Woodley manages to catch his opponent with an overhand right and wins by flash-KO. Now I know that the champ would most probably look to take Thompson down right out of the bat, look to maintain top position and work his ground-and-pound from there; but T-Wood’s out for blood and is looking to prove a point by standing with the former kickboxing champion.
Furthermore, the champ seemed to fade in the 5th and final round of their first meeting. That said, the most likely scenario for a Woodley win is a flash KO. Something like this:
Having gone through how the Woodley-Thompson duo stack up against one another going into the rematch, let’s go to Tiger-Style martial arts Guru, Sensei Tiger, for his Predictions (Sensei Tiger is Real Damn It!)-
Sensei Tiger Says: Woodley blitzes Wonderboy, connects with a lightning-fast right-hand and wins via TKO.
Tyron Woodley beats Stephen Thompson via TKO.
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