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- Jul 27, 2013
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There is no question that Woodley can knock out everyone in the UFC from Mighty Mouse to Mark Hunt with a single punch but in my opinion he will have some issues with Maia.
Woodley is a bit like Hendo. The elephant gun is loaded and he waits for an opening. That's why he did pretty well with Thompson and Lawler. They did not really pressure him.
However Woodley was clearly lost with Rory as Rory had enough punching power to keep him at a distance and T-Wood could not resolve the Rory equation... just like Rory could not resolve the Wonderboy equation.
As for Maia it will be different because Maia is relentless in his search for the takedown. As opposed to guys like Chris Weidman who telegraphs his moves and shoots from way too far, Maia is actually pretty sneaky and explodes from a short distance. Plus his punches are actually pretty powerful. Actually Chael was asked who is the guy who punched you the hardest... I thought he would say Hendo in a practice or something like that. However his answer was Maia.
If Woodley thinks that his college wrestling is a total firewall against a grappling machine like Maia, he is in for a potential surprise. Maybe something like Kos and FItch versus GSP where they were both convinced that their wrestling pedigree would protect them from GSP's purple belt in BJJ and lack of any serious wrestling experience. They bought found out too late that
Being on the ground with guys like Maia, Jacare or even Rockold is not a good place to be.
Anyway both are great dudes and I am OK with any of them as champ.
Woodley is a bit like Hendo. The elephant gun is loaded and he waits for an opening. That's why he did pretty well with Thompson and Lawler. They did not really pressure him.
However Woodley was clearly lost with Rory as Rory had enough punching power to keep him at a distance and T-Wood could not resolve the Rory equation... just like Rory could not resolve the Wonderboy equation.
As for Maia it will be different because Maia is relentless in his search for the takedown. As opposed to guys like Chris Weidman who telegraphs his moves and shoots from way too far, Maia is actually pretty sneaky and explodes from a short distance. Plus his punches are actually pretty powerful. Actually Chael was asked who is the guy who punched you the hardest... I thought he would say Hendo in a practice or something like that. However his answer was Maia.
If Woodley thinks that his college wrestling is a total firewall against a grappling machine like Maia, he is in for a potential surprise. Maybe something like Kos and FItch versus GSP where they were both convinced that their wrestling pedigree would protect them from GSP's purple belt in BJJ and lack of any serious wrestling experience. They bought found out too late that
Being on the ground with guys like Maia, Jacare or even Rockold is not a good place to be.
Anyway both are great dudes and I am OK with any of them as champ.