Last night, in the co-main event of the stacked UFC 214, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley attempted his third title defense against Brazilian jiu jitsu wizard Demian Maia. Though the fight was an undeniably slow one, Woodley successfully defended his welterweight crown, stopping all 21 of Maia’s attempted takedowns en route to a unanimous decision win.
In the wake of this win, Woodley took to his official Instagram account to issue a statement to his fans and haters. See his post below:
“Hate it or love it the underdog’s on top,” Woodley said, quoting The Game song Hate it or Love it. “Truly thankful to God and all my supporters. Been a rough road. Thank God for giving me the strength and mental toughness to keep pushing after I completely threw my shoulder out at the end of the first. Also for providing me with world class coaches that walked me through each step! I am truly surrounded by ‘Professionals.’ Truly grateful!”
With this win over Maia, Woodley builds on the momentum of a close decision defeat of Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, which occurred in the headliner of UFC 209 back in March. In his next most recent fight, he battled Thompson to a controversial draw. He won the title in July of 2016 with a crushing first-round knockout of Robbie Lawler.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 7/30/2017.