Wonderboy looked timid, and for good reason. Woodley was sitting back and waiting for Thompson to initiate not allowing Thompson to counter strike. When Thompson's being offensive he's usually vulnerable down the middle and Woodley was waiting for those opportunities all night to blast him with his right hand and well, we all saw what happened.
That being said, you have a natural inclination to fight people with explosive speed and big power with apprehension but that often is the worst thing you can possibly do because those are the last kinds of fighters you can afford to hesitate against. Wonderboy sets his kicks up with his punches and his punches with his kicks...he can't afford to sacrifice one or the other. I felt the kick Woodley caught in round 1 that scored the takedown and lead to...domination ( that first round doesn't get enough credit, it was more than just " a little elbow that cut me" like Thompson said ) was caught because Thompson was throwing his kicks tentatively and without conviction.
In the fight, I saw more things Thompson did wrong and can improve on in the rematch than I did for Woodley, Thompson fought Woodleys fight, although I felt Woodley could have kept looking for the leg kicks and if forced to, could have been more aggressive standing in certain exchanges and more aggressive with setting up takedowns...however Woodley was gassed and getting picked apart in round 5, if he were to have been more aggressive throughout it could have lead to his demise as he would have gassed sooner and also opened himself up to Thompson's strikes more in general & allowed Thompson to more effectively counter strike. but I imagine Woodley is carrying a bit more momentum and confidence into the rematch regardless. Very excited for the rematch, Maia get's next though.
