What’s the story?
Immediately after their initial meeting at UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, mixed martial arts fans have been clamoring to see a rematch between welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and No. 1-ranked contender Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.
According to Woodley himself, however, on his podcast The Morning Wood Show (courtesy of LowKickMMA) the rematch has been inked and the two will lock horns once again at UFC 209 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
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In case you didn’t know...
Thompson challenged Woodley for the 170-pound strap in the co-main event of UFC 205 in which both men put on an epic contest that was dubbed Fight Of The Night. Unfortunately for both men, however, the contest would end in a majority draw after Woodley took a 10-8 round in round two.
After months of campaigning for the rematch, ‘Wonderboy’ finally gets his wish to rematch ‘The Chosen One’ after getting under the champion’s skin with his comments as of late.
The heart of the matter:
Here’s what Woodley had to say on his podcast explaining why he finally accepted the rematch with Thompson:
“He got under my skin so much that I said ‘I’m just gonna go ahead and fight this dude.’ he got under my skin that bad that I don’t even care about the ration, the money, what fight makes most sense. You need to be careful what you ask for. Wonderboy, you want it? Come get it. You wanna fight? You wanna get done worst than what you did the first time? Some people gotta be real careful — “
What’s next?
The initial bout between Woodley and Thompson was a razor close one, as Woodley’s superior strength and wrestling proved to be the Karate black belt’s biggest weakness; while Woodley struggled to engage with the masterful striking of Thompson (with the exception of a few monstrous overhand rights that rocked Thompson). In a rematch it should be interesting to see the adjustments both men make after having shared the Octagon with one another for 25 minutes.
Sportskeeda’s Take:
The rematch between Woodley and Thompson was essentially the only fight that made sense going forward in the welterweight division. While Demain Maia has a claim to the title shot as well, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist should wait on the sidelines to challenge the winner of this upcoming match-up. I expect yet another amazing performance from both Woodley and Thomposon, however, I also believe ‘Wonderboy’s’ striking will be too much for the champion to overcome a second time around.
