Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson rematch set for UFC 209
UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley defended his belt against undisputed No. 1 contender Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson at UFC 205 in an enthralling title fight that will go down as one of the best of all time. The bout ended in a majority draw, leaving the top of the welterweight division as congested as it was before the UFC's debut in Madison Square Garden.
Thompson has been campaigning for another shot at Woodley, much in the same way he did before UFC 205, calling into question his championship behavior. Thompson even posted a picture of a signed bout agreement awaiting Woodley.
Woodley has entertained a super fight with Michael Bisping and possibly giving other welterweight contenders a title shot, but the champion confirmed on his podcast the two would clash again at UFC 209. UFC president Dana White later confirmed the news to John Morgan of MMA Junkie.
“March 4, UFC 209 in Las Vegas, Nevada, what I believe to be the T-Mobile Center, you will see “Wonderboy” get the worst a-- whooping of his life,” Woodley said. “Hopefully all his fans and all his over entitlement will cease at that moment and we can do a eulogy for it.”
UFC 209 was originally scheduled to be the second night of fights inside the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but the UFC has since decided to simply focus on UFC 209. Thompson's efforts to goad the champion into a rematch worked, as Woodley confirmed he was frustrated.
“He got under my skin so much that I’m just going to go ahead and fight this dude,” Woodley told co-host Din Thomas. “Like straight up. He got under my skin that bad where I don’t even care about the ratio and the money and what fight makes the most sense. You need to be careful what you ask for. 'Wonderboy' you want it — come get it. You want a fight, you want to get done worse than you did the first time?
“He’s going to get in the Octagon and he’s going to be in for a rude awakening because if he thought that was something the last time, I’m going all the way up.”
At UFC 205, one judge scored the fight for Woodley. Two other judges scored it a draw, with Thompson winning three out of five rounds and Woodley scoring a 10-8 in the other two to force the draw, allowing Woodley to retain his belt.
