Back in November, in the co-main event of UFC 205, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson battled to a thrilling majority draw. With this result, Woodley hung onto the welterweight crown – though surely not in the fashion he had hoped.
Last night, in the main event of UFC 209, Woodley and Thompson met again, with the goal of producing a clearer, more decisive result. Unfortunately, this welterweight title rematch was perhaps even closer than the pair’s first fight.
Throughout this contest, Thompson was the busier man, pushing Woodley backward, but failing to land any especially damaging offense. Woodley, meanwhile, landed the fights more decisive blows and takedowns, but these moments were very rare. The end result, then, was a disappointingly slow and incredibly close fight.
In the end, the judges would award Woodley a majority decision win – though this result was immediately controversial among fans and pundits.
One member of the MMA community who did not agree with the scoring in this welterweight title fight was UFC President Dana White, who explained to the media post-fight that he scored the bout for Thompson.
“I had it three [rounds] to two the other way,” White told reporters (via MMAJunkie.com). “I thought that ‘Wonderboy’ won three to two. One of the judges scored the last round 10-8, so that obviously throws [the scoring].”
White then commented on the audible disappointment of the fans, who booed consistently throughout this anticipated welterweight title rematch.
“It’s easy to sit in your seats, drink some beers and [eat] some popcorn and boo people, man,” White said. “They’re not in there fighting Tyron Woodley or Wonderboy. A lot was at stake, and these guys fought the way they needed to fight to win. Woodley came out and made some big claims before the fight that we would have a definitive answer on who is the champion and things like that. I like Tyron. He’s talented. You’ve heard me say all the things he is. You can’t be upset at people now or whatever after that second fight.”
Do you agree with Dana White on this one? How did you score the UFC 209 main event? Sound off, PENN Nation
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/5/2017.