This past Saturday night was a night to remember in the UFC welterweight division. The division once again produced a champion who will be remembered amongst the greats. Tyron Woodley solidified himself as the unmatched king of the 170-pound division. A win over budding star, Darren “The Gorilla” Till, definitely enforces that notion.
Woodley was named the underdog by the books, but that did not stop him from outsmarting and completely outclassing his opponent at UFC 228. His knockout was replayed on social media worldwide. While Woodley took top billing, strawweight Jessica Andrade also stood tall, possibly earning a title shot in the process.
The Tyron Woodley Show
Coming into this fight, we thought Darren Till would definitely try and push the pace and take control of the octagon. Well, he did that. The problem was, he wasn’t throwing many punches until he did, in fact, take over. The Gorilla just was not his usual self. Till’s hesitancy to engage in the pocket with Woodley or be aggressive with his striking probably derived from his fear of Woodley’s power and speed.
Woodley connected with some shots throughout the fight and Till did not like them whatsoever. When you look at Tyron Woodley’s overall fight game, the guy has absolutely no weaknesses. He has power and speed like no one else does in that division with an excellent wrestling background to always fall back. Woodley is so smart and technical that he does not often need to rely on it. There’s a reason the UFC 170-pound division is called the Woodleyweight division and we found out why on Saturday night.
The Next Strawweight Contender?
Remember, though, Woodley was not the only success story we were saw Saturday night. Andrade absolutely mowed through Karolina Kowalkiewicz and called out champ Rose Namajunas for a shot at the UFC women’s strawweight title. First of all, Andrade looks like an absolute freak athlete. She has the most muscular arms out of any woman in that division. That may not mean that much to some of you but if you mix those freakish arms with her unparalleled aggression, you get a human bulldozer. Kowalkiewicz is a talented striker and a fan favorite but she was just not in the physical condition to handle Andrade in this fight, regardless of her skill set.
Zabit
Of course, I have to talk about everyone’s new favorite fighter, Zabit Magomedsharipov. The new Dagestani sensation (one of many) proved to fight fans around the world that he might be the real deal with a win over Brandon Davis. He possesses one of the most unusual skill sets in the UFC. Magomedsharipov feels comfortable striking or grappling with his opponents. What makes him an unusual fighter is his creativity inside the octagon. I’m not just talking about him propelling himself off the cage into a punch or throwing a flurry of combinations after doing a complete turnaround in front of his opponent. I’m also talking about the crazy submissions he goes for. Magomedsharipov looks like he is here to stay but, before we go ahead and crown him the king of the division, let’s see him take out a top ranked opponent.
The Rest of the Fights
The entire card provided entertaining fights for us fight fans, not just the ones headlining. Tatiana Suarez might be the best fighter in the women’s strawweight division. There is a reason she is known as “the female Khabib.” Her grappling is relentless and unfortunately, Carla Esparza will be the first person to tell you that. Suarez beat Esparza down for three rounds. Esparza had nothing for her the entire fight. However after Saturday night, Suarez looks like the most dominant woman in that division. Aljamain Sterling pulled off a knee bar in the preliminaries against Cody Stamann. Magomedsharipov was impressed as we saw a couple fights later. He then proceeded to call out Dominick Cruz. We all definitely loved that.
The UFC put on another fantastic show on Saturday night. Tyron Woodley was the star of it all. The man captured greatness and solidified himself as one of the greatest welterweights to ever live. After all the bad luck he has had with the fans and the promotion, it may be time for everyone to be humble and give Woodley the respect he deserves. The Woodleyweight division is here to stay for a long time.
Now, on to McGregor-Nurmagomedov for UFC 229 here in Las Vegas, ne of the most anticipated fights in UFC history.
