Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight roost-ruler, Tyron Woodley, will defend his crown opposite fast-rising British striker, Darren Till, this Saturday (Sept. 8, 2018) at UFC 228 inside American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.
Woodley is a difficult man to get a read on. Is he as dominant a champion as three title defenses would suggest? Given the insanely competitive nature of the two Thompson fights and Demian Maia’s recent falloff, it’s debatable at this point. It’s my opinion that a unification match with the interim champ, Colby Covington, would have definitely answered the question of just how great Woodley truly is — for better or worse — but Till is an even more intriguing opponent.
There’s a chance Till’s defensive wrestling sucks, a situation that would prove little for Woodley. It’s also possible that Till is the real deal and will force Woodley out of cruise control, which I believe is the best possible outcome for everyone involved.
Let’s take a closer look at Woodley’s skill set:
Striking
Woodley’s approach to kickboxing is remarkably simple. On the whole. it involves a great deal of patience, excellent timing, and the type of explosive right hand that can flatten an elephant.
Woodley’s approach is rather unusual for an explosive wrestler, as he is perfectly content to sit at range and wait for his opponents to come to him. He’s very patient at distance or against the fence, sometimes to a fault. Against men like Rory MacDonald and — bizarrely — Jake Shields, Woodley hung around far too long at the end of his opponent’s strikes, waiting for them to over-commit. Instead, they simply beat him by volume.
Of the six or so rounds that Woodley lost to “Wonderboy,” that’s still an accurate description. Woodley would time a couple strong punches or low kicks, but he would spend too much time waiting while his opponent went to work with straight punches.
With that being said, Woodley can be very effective even if his opponent doesn’t lead the charge. When Woodley is fresh and on point, he’s actively feinting toward his opponent with the threat of a sudden lunging right hand.
Woodley relies almost exclusively on his right hand to do damage. That’s not exactly textbook striking, but it’s a style that has worked repeatedly for numerous fighters. Basically, it all comes down to whether or not the fighter can set up his right, and Woodley has a few strategies to that end (GIF).
Much of the time, Woodley is using the threat of the takedown to land the right hand. That can be as simple as ducking low before throwing an overhand, but it’s not usually a single cause-and-effect with Woodley. Instead, Woodley changes levels and fires and repeats, forcing his opponent to attempt to keep up with the rapid threats of double leg and right hand. Often times, Woodley will also mix an uppercut into his offense, which can be disastrous for an opponent who ducks at the wrong time.
Besides springing into a sudden combination, Woodley does have some powerful kicks. Against most Orthodox opponents, Woodley sticks to the outside low kick, which is more than capable of knocking his opponent off-balance. Opposite Southpaw opponents, Woodley can open up more and kick to the head and body as well.
Woodley’s kicks are rarely set up or differ from standard round kicks, but they land with a major impact.
If Woodley does convince his opponent to reach for him, he’s in great position to counter with his massive right hand. Whether he tries to slip and strike or block and return, Woodley’s counter right is his best weapon (GIF).
The counter right has earned Woodley most of his real knockout wins. Against Dong Hyun Kim, he simply watched the South Korean walk forward and try a spinning back fist without any rhyme or reason. Being a high-level athlete with good reaction time, Woodley simply interrupted the slow spin with his fist.
Woodley’s brutal knockout win over Koscheck was a bit more technical. As Koscheck over-extended on his right hand, Woodley blocked but kept himself in position to counter. With his opponent out of position, Woodley was easily able to blast “Kos” into unconsciousness (GIF).
Opposite Thompson, Woodley’s right hand found its mark several times. At his best, Woodley was using the jab to keep Thompson honest, as “Wonderboy” would stand at the edge of Woodley’s range hoping to draw him out. As Thompson was forced to take greater risks to land, Woodley found the counter right hand more often. Additionally, even a striking master like Thompson has momentary defensive lapses, and it takes a great fighter like Woodley to identify those moments and land (GIF).
Wrestling
Woodley has some majorly impressive wrestling credentials. As a two-time All American and Big 12 conference champion, Woodley is undoubtedly one of the most talented wrestlers in the 170-pound division.
In the UFC, Woodley has only relied on his wrestling to any consistent success in one bout. Against Carlos Condit, Woodley really did fight well before the somewhat untimely end to the bout. Using his athleticism edge, Woodley was able to quickly bounce in and smash Condit with hard punches and land counter blows when the kickboxer tried to wade in with his own combinations.
Additionally, Woodley made full use of his wrestling. Whenever Condit got especially aggressive or backed Woodley into the fence, he’d simply change levels and power double through his lanky foe. One of those takedowns eventually tore apart Condit’s knee, ending the bout (GIF).
In his two bouts with Thompson, Woodley was able to land two takedowns. Those takedowns won him a pair of rounds, but it also seemed to slow Woodley down a bit, as he did little else in the round after he wrestled. Against a striker like Till, it will be interesting to see if Woodley can wrestle consistently for five rounds at the age of 36.
Back in Strikeforce, Woodley’s wrestling approach was far more straight forward. Walking down his opponents and forcing him to shell up under the threat of overhands, Woodley would dive forward into double and single legs against the fence. From there, Woodley managed to lift and slam even the most stubborn foes, proving to be quite controlling from top position. Additionally, Woodley showed a powerful clinch game, making it quite difficult to tie up with him for any length of time without being placed on the mat (GIF).
Defensively, Woodley is a brick wall. He’s low to the ground and thickly muscled, which makes it serious difficult to get in on his hips for the shot. For example, Jake Shields spent a lot of time trying to grind for a double leg, but he simply couldn’t move “T-Wood.” Only Rory MacDonald has managed to take him down in recent years, and the Canadian accomplished that feat largely because of his complete control of the striking.
Against Demian Maia, Woodley’s strength was very noticeable. Maia is excellent at clinging to takedowns and sucking opponents into his world, but Woodley repeatedly cut an angle or simple shoved Maia off him. That’s not usually a tactic that works on the Brazilian, but Woodley is a special athlete.
One of the more interesting things about Woodley’s willingness to fight with his back to the fence is that it does affect wrestling exchanges. Woodley is unafraid to get taken down along the fence — his strength and skill make him a rock from that position — but having his back to the fence guarantees that his opponent does not. If Woodley is able to duck under a punch or catch a kick, he has about 30 feet of space to finish the takedown before his opponent can rely on the fence to remain standing.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
A brown belt under Ricardo Liborio, Woodley has a trio of submission victories on his record. Unfortunately, all of those occurred back in 2009 early in Woodley’s career, and Woodley’s knockout-focused approach in recent years limits his opportunity to land more submissions.
Back in those early fights, Woodley was simply on another level in terms of athleticism and wrestling skill from his opponent. That may be true on some level today as well, but those regional foes were far less prepared to handle those disadvantages. In short, Woodley was able to pick up those opponents, throw them on their heads, and overwhelm them before putting on the finishing touches via submission. Against the best in the world, it’s rarely so easy.
Surprisingly, Woodley returned to his jiu-jitsu offense after years in the first match with Stephen Thompson. After rocking the Karateka, he found his opponent’s neck and secured a deep grip, pulling gull guard and attempting the guillotine choke. Unfortunately, Woodley’s arm-in grip and choice to jump full guard made it a difficult submission to finish. Furthermore, Woodley attempted to finish by pulling through the arm-in guillotine, which is more difficult than sitting up into the choke (GIF).
Despite the technical mistake, it’s actually a fairly promising sign that Woodley was willing to give up top position for a chance to end the bout, as he clearly has some confidence in his offensive jiu-jitsu.
Conclusion
If Woodley can turn away Till, it’s his fourth straight title defense, which is a massive accomplishment. Until the fight happens, it’s hard to say if this is the moment the MMA world will start to respect Woodley more as champion. Luckily, with another title defense or two, it won’t matter, as Woodley is carving out a place for himself in history regardless of what people believe about “T-Wood.”
Andrew Richardson, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt, is a professional fighter who trains at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California. In addition to learning alongside world-class talent, Andrew has scouted opponents and developed winning strategies for several of the sport’s most elite fighters.