1.He didn't earn his title shot. The UFC are cultivating an era of low-profile mediocre-ability champions by handing out title shots to anyone with a podcast or some Twitter followers.
In order to get his shot against GSP, Johny Hendricks had to go 6-0, including wins over Condit, Fitch, Kampmann and Koscheck.
If the UFC was still running its affairs properly, this is what earning a title shot looks like. Beating a host of fellow contenders in and around the top 15, with some of them proven top 5 guys, and some of them via KO or at least very emphatic/dominant victories.
Tyron Woodley got a title on a 2-0 run, 2 wins in over 2 years, with zero wins against fighters in the division's top 5. He knocked out K1 Kim, a wreckless and mediocre striker who should have stayed a boring wrestler, and won a close, unconvincing, tepid decision vs an overweight, demotivated version of Kelvin Gastelum, who was later sent packing from the division's upper echelons by Neil Magny, himself a borderline top 10 guy.
Why was Woodley given a title shot on a 2-0 run over 2 years (0 fights vs top 5 comp) when in the same division are Stephen Thompson is on a 7-0 run (2 wins vs top 5 comp), and Demian Maia is on a 5-0 run?
Is it because 'T-Wood' is part of the media crew on Fox? Because he's friends with some people at Zuffa? Because he has a podcast?
That title shot had no credibility. This nepotism is in a way even worse than giving a TUF winner a crack at the belt.
2.It's always a bad situation when you have a champion who has already been definitively proven to be inferior to another fighter in the division.
When GSP or Anderson Silva or Jon Jones or Jose Aldo or Demetrious Johnson sit on top of their division, there is no fighter lingering within the weight class who has shown to be better than them. That's a real champion.
Tyron Woodley was absolutely dominated by Rory MacDonald. He wasn't even competitive. Rory won every minute of every round, and basically had Tyron surrendering, just trying to run the clock down and not get badly beat up before the bell went.
Woodley wears the gold right now, but you can't take him seriously as a champion when a guy who beat him so easily is still active. Rory could re-sign with the UFC any day now. If that happens, it makes T-Wood look like even more of a paper champion, as there was nothing whatsoever in that fight to suggest a rematch would be any different. MacDonald is unquestionably the better fighter - something that could not be said if they'd given the shot to a guy who'd actually earned it (Thompson).
3.Woodley's post-fight presser behaviour. How obvious is it that the man himself doesn't believe in his ability to have a title reign, when he publicly rejects a match-up with an undisputed number 1 contender on a 7-0 tear (including wins over his own conqueror MacDonald and a KO of a former champ Hendricks), in favour of a fight with Nick Diaz, a guy...
...who hasn't fought in 18 months
...hasn't fought in this division for almost three-and-a-half years
...and hasn't won a frickin' fight in almost five years!!
How can anyone take that seriously as a champion????
4.Woodley is clearly not the best fighter in his weight class. Plain and simple. Just like Bisping at middleweight.
Woodley has been knocked out horribly by Nate Marquardt, outstruck and defeated by Jake fucking Baby Legkick Shields, dominated and mastered by Rory MacDonald (now on a 0-2 skid himself), and barely sneaked by a terrible version of Kelvin Gastelum on a split decision.
He was in the right place at the right time with the right punch to end Lawler's reign of two-way destruction, but considering his UFC form to date, the chances of him having any sort of a reign are so low. This has "short term champ" written all over it. The guy has no cardio and rudimentary striking.
Stephen Thompson will slice this guy to ribbons, just like he did to Hendricks, and send Woodley back to the lower reaches of the top 10 where he belongs. Just like Rockhold or Weidman or Jacare will do to Bisping once he has been allowed to feast on the ghostly remains of the once-great Dan Hendo.
Poor, poor champions here. UFC making shit decisions all over the shop.
