Tyron Woodley Opens As Early Underdog Against Stephen Thompson
New UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley may have been aiming for a ‘money fight’ against Georges St. Pierre or Nick Diaz after he won the belt by knocking out Robbie Lawler in late July, but most MMA fans’ wishes were fulfilled at last Friday’s UFC Fight Night 94 weigh-ins when ‘T-Wood’ confirmed he would be facing consensus No. 1 contender Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson at November 12’s monumental UFC 205 from New York.
Most regard ‘Wonderboy’ as the greatest threat to Woodley’s crown, as the general thinking is that Thompson will be able to keep out of Woodley’s early power range while picking him apart in the mid to later rounds where ‘T-Wood’ tends to fade. Apparently oddsmakers agree with this sentiment as well, as Thompson is a -150 favorite with Woodley a +120 underdog according to early numbers from MMAOddsbreakers’ Nick Kalikas, who explained his thinking for setting the line:
“”Tyron Woodley is a deserving and dangerous champion, having knocked out Robbie Lawler to claim the welterweight crown, but he may have his hands full in Stephen Thompson. Thompson has proven himself as the best striker at 170 pounds. Woodley has explosive power and is an excellent wrestler, but he’s had major difficulty against technical strikers with excellent takedown defense like Rory MacDonald. Thompson uses distance expertly and recently proved he can push a solid pace for five rounds with his last win. I’m opening the title challenger Thompson as a -150 betting favorite because I feel as long as he survives Woodley in the first round and settles in, he’ll be able to control almost every dynamic of the fight.”
It’s far from the first time Woodley has been in this position, however. Despite his position as champion and arguably the hardest hitter in the talented UFC welterweight division, MMA Junkie pointed out that Woodley has opened as the betting dog in an alarming six straight fights against Carlos Condit, Rory MacDonald, Dong Hyun Kim, Kelvin Gastelum, Lawler, and now Thompson.
He only lost to MacDonald, but many believe that fight will paint the picture of why he will lose to Thompson as ‘The Red King’ was a lanky, technical striker whom ‘Wonderboy’ thoroughly out-struck in their meeting at UFC Fight Night 89 this June.
So it’s a role that Woodley has relished, mainly silencing his doubters with a mix of high-powered knockouts amongst a controversial decision win over Gastelum and his injury TKO victory over
