So... Objectively, how good was Tyron really?

Better than some, and worse than others. But, beyond boring to watch.
 
Good enough to be champion and defend his belt. So, better than most.
 
His title run has an element of luck to it. He didn't deserve his title shot. He got it off a two fight win streak, a split decision win over Gastelum and sitting out for a year and a half. I'm not sure why the UFC gave him a title shot, but they probably regret it in hindsight. Then he goes on to fight Wonderboy twice in fights that could've gone either way. If the judges had scored either of those fights for Wonderboy, Woodley's entire legacy evaporates.
 
He was/is good enough to be considered #3 all time WW behind GSP and Usman. His striking is pretty basic and one dimensional, but still dangerous because of his speed and power. Although his wrestling is good he can’t use it much because he has a very limited gas tank. He’s quite big, but gives up height and reach to most of his opponents. But what’s most important, he doesn’t really have the heart of a fighter. He doesn’t deal well with adversity.
 
Woodley is undeated in open stances fights he only lose to orthodox guy
 
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Kwic said:
I don't want to sound like a typical Sherdogger with the infamous he was never that good after losing a fight, but..

The range of skills he displayed makes me think he was an overachiever and of course not even close to the greatest fighters in terms of skills.

Let's look at Tyrone's UFC record

Loss 19–5–1 Gilbert Burns Decision
Loss 19–4–1 Kamaru Usman Decision
Win 19–3–1 Darren Till Submission
Win 18–3–1 Demian Maia Decision
Win 17–3–1 Stephen Thompson Decision (majority)
Draw 16–3–1 Stephen Thompson Draw (majority)
Win 16–3 Robbie Lawler KO (punches)
Win 15–3 Kelvin Gastelum Decision (split)
Win 14–3 Dong Hyun Kim TKO (punches)
Loss 13–3 Rory MacDonald (Decision)
Win 13–2 Carlos Condit TKO (knee injury)
Win 12–2 Josh Koscheck KO (punches)
Loss 11–2 Jake Shields Decision (split)
Win 11–1 Jay Hieron KO (punches)

On paper, not too shabby.
But you got split over Kelvin and majority Dec over Wonderboy, and a draw. The KO's were nice but that's just a flurry, the same one at least in both cases, landing big, good night. Robbie, great win. Props. But if the big bomb doesn't land?
Kelvin, good win also, but many felt he lost. Maia, great win but Maia didn't have a good long camp for that fight. But still, great TDD. Wonderboy fights, didn't show anything other than backing up and landing a shot. Still great draw / win but he didn't really show much there. Wobderboy deserves to be blamed on the second fight too for sure.
Till fight, great timing on the shot, good sub finish, good win.
Then gets dominated badly when he can't land his big shot. But he fights as always.
However, the opponent is not scared to engage, has technique and chin.


People say Twood aged over night and he doesn't want it anymore. Is it true, though?
He has fought the same as he always fought. Back up to the cage and hope for a bomb landing while defend a takedown.

So what he showed me:
- great power, overall explosiveness and timing of his bomb
- good takedown defense
- decent bjj

Now as far as creativity, combinations, footwork, i haven't really seen that in his fights. Where is the range of skills that would make him stand out above the rest so that he can be considered one of the greatest? Not even close. I'm not saying people say he is, though. But I know he is saying that and I don't agree.
He did very good with the skillset he had but and is obviously very good fighter but far from being considered in the same league as the greats in my opinion. And I do believe he is an overachiever that if was a bit unlucky with decisions and granting him that imo undeserving TS then he would be considered just a pretty good fighter. His limited skillset got exposed in his last 2 fights. Yes, GSP lost too, but it was a KO. Can happen to anyone. But to get dominated for full 5 rounds and then lose is something else.

And to re-iterate. He was / is certainly very good, but not near greatness and never was.
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Really good fighter but not as good as a lot of GSP haters looking to discredit GSP said he was.

He honestly wasn't that much different than Koscheck in what he brought to a fight. He had better striking but not really much more, if any more diverse than Kos. Kos had better offensive wrestling for sure. Both fell in love with the overhand right and became pretty predictable with it. Not a good enough gas tank to offer more than low output in all of his fights. He had the same glaring holes in his game his entire career and never fixed them.

I think he benefited from being around during a transition period from old to new era. Guys from GSP's era started to fade out and he finally got to the top.
 
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He was elite level, but certainly never showed himself to be clearly ahead of the pack. At least 2 of his wins and his draw could have been scored against him and the Maia fight was pure poop. He could very easily be 7-8 in his last 15 fights.
 
Utahraptor Ostrommaysi said:
LOL imagine thinking that someone who was a long running champ of one of the most stacked divisions in UFC and someone who defended his belt successfully 4 times was "never any good".
Sherdog is gonna Sherdog I guess.
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2 of his defenses were pure shit and boring and barely eked out a decision win, combined with a draw previously....then he fights old man maia and once again basically does fuck all except coast. Then he had one decent win against Till before getting dismantled twice.

No one is saying he isn't a decent fighter. My issue is when people try and use the how many times he defended the title argument. He defended against some weak opposition and just coasted and threw nothing and did nothing.
 
He literally got a title shot off a win over DHK and a split over Kelvin...I mean come on. Plus he waited out forever on the sidelines too and fought Robby after he had just finished some absolute wars
 
I don't think he was ever the best welterweight in the world at any point during his career despite having a ufc title and 3 defenses makes me sound like a kook, but I honestly don't care. I felt the same about bisping as well as many did, even though bisping (relative to his division) has had much more impressive fights and accomplishments than tryon woodley.
 
He was a four time champion. Probably pretty good.
 
He was a good champion, but with evident weaknesses (ass always glued to the cage) . Champion, but never GOAT material, that's it.
 
oceansize said:
I've never enjoyed a single fight of Tyron's. Easily one of my least favorite fighters of all time but he maximized his gifts, worked hard, became champ, and defended his title. The man is a beast but I will be very happy upon his exit and will quickly forget his existence within the MMA world. The price of playing it safe.
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Fair enough. I'm a Tyron fan but I realize that his style isn't for everyone.
 
3rd best WW of all time behind only Hughes and GSP, so pretty damn good.
 
The “Sherdog gonna Sherdog” responses apply more to the lazy responses in this thread than to TS. You don’t have to agree, but when someone writes a somewhat well thought out post, with plenty of compliments to the fighter being questioned, don’t shit on them just because they have a different opinion than you.
 
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