Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson- My breakdown and prediction

[DS7]

Hi there fellow sherbros, in the past few days i have been analyzing both fighters and since this world welterweight championship is the fight that i`m the most excited and looking foward to i decided to share with you my thoughts on it and the way i see this thing going. It`s going to be a long read so in4 didn`t read comments that some you have ready to post ya goofs.


-Tyron Woodley is an absolute animal and in my opinion, the worst style to Stephen to deal with. Not only he is a very powerful striker, he has the confort to stand because he has also a very good wrestling base which makes him dangerous in the 2 dimensions were a fight can take place: standing and on the ground.


1) Setting up that brutal right hand and covering distance

-In all his fights, when the bell rings Woodley immediately backs up and gives up the center of the octagon to his opponent so in that way he can set him up and deliver his typical and signature move: the right hand.

How he does it? He way faster than the 99% of his opponents and so, he can close distances in a unique way that when his opponent is coming foward he trows 2 to 3 jabs to keep that false sense of distance and boom, closes in and gets in range quickly to deliver a BOMB on you.

But that`s only his first move. In the first gif you can see that Koscheck realized that and barely escaped that right hand but Woodley wasn`t done yet, he lunges foward and because in his first attempt he didn`t have success he needs to trick you into that power shot again, how? Fainting the level change.

He pumps the jab, faints the takedown and comes up with the uppercut followed by over hand right. The speed in those combos is so impressive, you simply cannot escape when he gets in range.


Speed, agility, explosiveness...That`s why Tyron can close on you like no other fighter, from there he has options, he can go full ofensive like i showed or he can implement his wrestling, which i believe will be is gameplan against Wonderboy, or at least try it.

- The problem for him is that Wonderboy is not that type of fighter, he fights on that karaté side stance and doesn`t charge foward or gets in a basic, stiff position in the center of the octagon. In fact, all the points i talked about Woodley so far might be is downfall because in my opinion, plays right into Thompson`s counter striking game.

-Woodley`s right hand bomb has it`s flaws. To him being able to deliver with that power and speed he has to over commit, place all the strength to deliver in his lead leg and lunging forward to the attack. That leaves him vulnerable to the precision, timming and space manipulation of Wonderboy, great example is the first GIF that i will show you.

-And this makes me go to my next point which is another flaw in Woodley`s game. When his opponents shut down his offensive (Rory did it brilliantly) he tends to get hesitant, backs up in a very stationary way which gives an opportunity to his opponent to get in and make him pay

- He shows no moviment or ability to get out of this alley and reset. So how does Stephen deals with this? Let`s compare:


Defensively

-When he presented with pressure and his opponent closing in, he is fast to recognize it and create the space to get a window to be out.
Hendricks is already to close, so what are we gonna do? Balance and lateral movement, he doesn`t even give Hendricks the opportunity to think about it because he is just so good in reading it and antecipating it.

-Here he trows the 1\2 just to get enough space to find that window and escape. He is also excelent in fighting while backing up and has that sense of what is around him and were is his safe zone, the footwork is the key for him in this matter.

Footwork, control the space and reset.




Offensively

-Now Wonderboy`s offensive is a thing of beauty, like i already said previously this is Anderson Silva level of striking. Let`s see how Wonderboy attacked when presented with a similar situation with a fighter backed up against the fence in a stiff, stationary way

-Did you notice how Hendricks was put on the fence in the first place? He lunged foward and over commited on an over hand...Hummmm where did i see this before??


-if Woodley gets in range or trys to get into stand up battle Wonderboy will put on a clinic on him. Precision, timing, balance, angles, footwork, In & Out(manipulating and creating the so called dead space),dexterity this man has it all has showed in the next and final GIF`s.

Prediction: Stephen Thompson by RD 3 TKO







Thank you for the patient and i hope you had a good reading, if you guys like it i`m considering doing a breakdown of Weidman vs Romero which is the other fight that is such an excelent and intriguing match up, i will analyze that fight and see if i can find any path for each fighter to win it because i have no idea who takes that one.

 

[Why did you]

interesting breakdown looking forward to see Weidman Romero

 

[Why did you]

btw I would even say Thomspon will get that win by TKO before RD 3

 

[WARinsertname]

Hi there fellow sherbros, in the past few days i have been analyzing both fighters and since this world welterweight championship is the fight that i`m the most excited and looking foward to i decided to share with you my thoughts on it and the way i see this thing going. It`s going to be a long read so in4 didn`t read comments that some you have ready to post ya goofs.


-Tyron Woodley is an absolute animal and in my opinion, the worst style to Stephen to deal with. Not only he is a very powerful striker, he has the confort to stand because he has also a very good wrestling base which makes him dangerous in the 2 dimensions were a fight can take place: standing and on the ground.


1) Setting up that brutal right hand and covering distance

-In all his fights, when the bell rings Woodley immediately backs up and gives up the center of the octagon to his opponent so in that way he can set him up and deliver his typical and signature move: the right hand.

How he does it? He way faster than the 99% of his opponents and so, he can close distances in a unique way that when his opponent is coming foward he trows 2 to 3 jabs to keep that false sense of distance and boom, closes in and gets in range quickly to deliver a BOMB on you.

But that`s only his first move. In the first gif you can see that Koscheck realized that and barely escaped that right hand but Woodley wasn`t done yet, he lunges foward and because in his first attempt he didn`t have success he needs to trick you into that power shot again, how? Fainting the level change.

He pumps the jab, faints the takedown and comes up with the uppercut followed by over hand right. The speed in those combos is so impressive, you simply cannot escape when he gets in range.


Speed, agility, explosiveness...That`s why Tyron can close on you like no other fighter, from there he has options, he can go full ofensive like i showed or he can implement his wrestling, which i believe will be is gameplan against Wonderboy, or at least try it.

- The problem for him is that Wonderboy is not that type of fighter, he fights on that karaté side stance and doesn`t charge foward or gets in a basic, stiff position in the center of the octagon. In fact, all the points i talked about Woodley so far might be is downfall because in my opinion, plays right into Thompson`s counter striking game.

-Woodley`s right hand bomb has it`s flaws. To him being able to deliver with that power and speed he has to over commit, place all the strength to deliver in his lead leg and lunging forward to the attack. That leaves him vulnerable to the precision, timming and space manipulation of Wonderboy, great example is the first GIF that i will show you.

-And this makes me go to my next point which is another flaw in Woodley`s game. When his opponents shut down his offensive (Rory did it brilliantly) he tends to get hesitant, backs up in a very stationary way which gives an opportunity to his opponent to get in and make him pay

- He shows no moviment or ability to get out of this alley and reset. So how does Stephen deals with this? Let`s compare:


Defensively

-When he presented with pressure and his opponent closing in, he is fast to recognize it and create the space to get a window to be out.
Hendricks is already to close, so what are we gonna do? Balance and lateral movement, he doesn`t even give Hendricks the opportunity to think about it because he is just so good in reading it and antecipating it.

-Here he trows the 1\2 just to get enough space to find that window and escape. He is also excelent in fighting while backing up and has that sense of what is around him and were is his safe zone, the footwork is the key for him in this matter.

Footwork, control the space and reset.




Offensively

-Now Wonderboy`s offensive is a thing of beauty, like i already said previously this is Anderson Silva level of striking. Let`s see how Wonderboy attacked when presented with a similar situation with a fighter backed up against the fence in a stiff, stationary way

-Did you notice how Hendricks was put on the fence in the first place? He lunged foward and over commited on an over hand...Hummmm where did i see this before??


-if Woodley gets in range or trys to get into stand up battle Wonderboy will put on a clinic on him. Precision, timing, balance, angles, footwork, In & Out(manipulating and creating the so called dead space),dexterity this man has it all has showed in the next and final GIF`s.

Prediction: Stephen Thompson by RD 3 TKO







Thank you for the patient and i hope you had a good reading, if you guys like it i`m considering doing a breakdown of Weidman vs Romero which is the other fight that is such an excelent and intriguing match up, i will analyze that fight and see if i can find any path for each fighter to win it because i have no idea who takes that one.

Well...You're OBVIOUSLY racist...

 

[DS7]

interesting breakdown looking forward to see Weidman Romero

btw I would even say Thomspon will get that win by TKO before RD 3

Appreciate it man, i think Wonderboy will slowly work him to a TKO wouldn`t be surprised if he gets the decision either but i think he will capitalize on the opportunity`s that will be presented.

 

[revoltub]

nice breakdown TS.

I agree with the result (wonderboy win) but he gets caught in an exchange I wouldn't be surprised.

 

[MadHouse]

nice breakdown

 

[Threetrees]

Appreciate it man, i think Wonderboy will slowly work him to a TKO wouldn`t be surprised if he gets the decision either but i think he will capitalize on the opportunity`s that will be presented.

That's a decent breakdown

I disagree with a few things



Conceding the center of the octagon was a staple of Tyron's game when he first moved back to Ferguson and started his own gym, he and his coach (Din) developed a strategy to make the most of his explosiveness - draw the guy in, and level change or fire the right. Once the guy is wary of moving forward charge and close the distance with the right. Shields and Rory pretty much shut this game down just by being able to stop early takedowns and making him second guess the strategy.



While he still showed some of that against Condit (his first fight, I believe since training with Duke Roufus pretty much full time), what I saw was a guy who fought out of the type he had established previously. He was willing to move forward more, he cut the ring against a decent outfighter in Condit and conceded the center extremely rarely, Condit had to push him back with combinations to get him to back up. Actually in the gif you show in the Condit fight, about 10 seconds later he did actually show the ability to circle and reset. Duke's trying to chane him more into a stalking fighter who still has that same counter threat. Another time earlier in the round Condit walks him back (Woodley doesn't concede it easily, Condit cut him off), and Woodley showed the same ability we saw in his early fights, exploded off the cage with a big right and hit a takedown.



What makes this into an interesting fight is that we haven't seen much of Woodley since he changed camps and started training with a really legit striking coach. The Lawler fight was far to short to learn much, but we did see Woodety move forward and cut the cage off to set up the right hand. It wasn’t the sprinting right that he knocked Heiron out with.



You also didn’t mention wrestling or the clinch game at all. If the fight stayed 100% on the feet I’d agree more with your breakdown and pick.



I like Wonderboy in this fight very slightly, because I think despite having to the tools to win this Woodley would have to fight out of type to do so - though I did see flashes of the gameplan that could work against Wonderboy in the Condit fight and I was extremely pleased to see him kicking a kicker in that fight. The reason I still favor Wonderboy though is that Woodley has to fight extremely carefully, normally with a guy with Wonderboy’s style you assume that if you can push them on their back foot you can take one or two weapons away from them but Wonderboy’s legs contain a ridiculous amount of dexterity and he can generate effective offense with his kicking game “moving backwards” which is dope.



I also wouldn’t really be shocked to see Tyron catch a side kick and left hook Wonderboy into oblivion either. Despite being branded as a one handed fighter, he’s got a decent boxing game when he actually wants to use it.



Anyway, I like Wonderboy by TKO as well, probably a bit earlier than you do because I can see Tyron getting tired and backing up just because he’s most comfortable doing that I just feel you left some things out of your breakdown. I think it's almost as likely to see Tyron win a pretty clear decision based off of the clinch and wrestling game.

 

[DS7]

nice breakdown TS.

I agree with the result (wonderboy win) but he gets caught in an exchange I wouldn't be surprised.

Me neither, don`t get me wrong i think Woodley definitely has his chances in winning this and i said, he is probably even worse match up than Maia. It only takes 1 second and a mistake, too slow in reaction and it`s over, Woodley is a beast. I can absolutely be wrong.

 

[Davey Crockett]

Woodley is the fastest fighter I've seen when closing the distance but he doesn't have the timing of Wonderboy

 

[funksoulbrother]

Woodley is the fastest fighter I've seen when closing the distance but he doesn't have the timing of Wonderboy

Faster than than Johny?

 

[DS7]

That's a decent breakdown

I disagree with a few things



Conceding the center of the octagon was a staple of Tyron's game when he first moved back to Ferguson and started his own gym, he and his coach (Din) developed a strategy to make the most of his explosiveness - draw the guy in, and level change or fire the right. Once the guy is wary of moving forward charge and close the distance with the right. Shields and Rory pretty much shut this game down just by being able to stop early takedowns and making him second guess the strategy.



While he still showed some of that against Condit (his first fight, I believe since training with Duke Roufus pretty much full time), what I saw was a guy who fought out of the type he had established previously. He was willing to move forward more, he cut the ring against a decent outfighter in Condit and conceded the center extremely rarely, Condit had to push him back with combinations to get him to back up. Actually in the gif you show in the Condit fight, about 10 seconds later he did actually show the ability to circle and reset. Duke's trying to chane him more into a stalking fighter who still has that same counter threat. Another time earlier in the round Condit walks him back (Woodley doesn't concede it easily, Condit cut him off), and Woodley showed the same ability we saw in his early fights, exploded off the cage with a big right and hit a takedown.



What makes this into an interesting fight is that we haven't seen much of Woodley since he changed camps and started training with a really legit striking coach. The Lawler fight was far to short to learn much, but we did see Woodety move forward and cut the cage off to set up the right hand. It wasn’t the sprinting right that he knocked Heiron out with.



You also didn’t mention wrestling or the clinch game at all. If the fight stayed 100% on the feet I’d agree more with your breakdown and pick.



I like Wonderboy in this fight very slightly, because I think despite having to the tools to win this Woodley would have to fight out of type to do so - though I did see flashes of the gameplan that could work against Wonderboy in the Condit fight and I was extremely pleased to see him kicking a kicker in that fight. The reason I still favor Wonderboy though is that Woodley has to fight extremely carefully, normally with a guy with Wonderboy’s style you assume that if you can push them on their back foot you can take one or two weapons away from them but Wonderboy’s legs contain a ridiculous amount of dexterity and he can generate effective offense with his kicking game “moving backwards” which is dope.



I also wouldn’t really be shocked to see Tyron catch a side kick and left hook Wonderboy into oblivion either. Despite being branded as a one handed fighter, he’s got a decent boxing game when he actually wants to use it.



Anyway, I like Wonderboy by TKO as well, probably a bit earlier than you do because I can see Tyron getting tired and backing up just because he’s most comfortable doing that I just feel you left some things out of your breakdown. I think it's almost as likely to see Tyron win a pretty clear decision based off of the clinch and wrestling game.

I did say that Woodley`s best chance to win this is trying to implement a gameplan with his wrestling being the key. Trying to get Wonderboy against the fence and work there for full 25 minutes. When i talked about Wonderboy great defense i was also with that in mind.

Pressure and closing in, Hendricks managed to cut space and clinch with him once and he had NOTHING on him, that was scary because altought Hendricks is not as fast as Woodley when he talk about cutting the space to get into range, he is probaby the strongest and he is for sure the most technical and beter wrestler in the division. Him not being able to do nothing to Wonderboy was a big red flag to guys like Maia or Woodley and it was my only concern with him.

Wonderboy trains on a daily basis with a 200lbs monster in Chris Weidman and also trains with Ryan Hall who is an very respected Jiu Jitsu black belt. Him getting this kind of confort with clinch situations and overrall ground game is what makes him so dangerous on the feet. He now has all the tools to make his striking work in MMA and i think it will be a very hard puzzle to solve.

 

[D'z]

You went through all that effort just to fuck the whole thing up with misspellings and grammatical errors. *facepalm*

 

[DS7]

You went through all that effort just to fuck the whole thing up with misspellings and grammatical errors. *facepalm*

Da fuck outta here with that shit, who gives a fuck if i have some grammatical errors, i`m portuguese and sometimes i make grammatical errors in my own language let alone in english


Here is your badge, congrates

 

[Threetrees]

I did say that Woodley`s best chance to win this is trying to implement a gameplan with his wrestling being the key. Trying to get Wonderboy against the fence and work there for full 25 minutes. When i talked about Wonderboy great defense i was also with that in mind.

Pressure and closing in, Hendricks managed to cut space and clinch with him once and he had NOTHING on him, that was scary because altought Hendricks is not as fast as Woodley when he talk about cutting the space to get into range, he is probaby the strongestand he is for sure the most technical and beter wrestler in the division. Him not being able to do nothing to Wonderboy was a big red flag to guys like Maia or Woodley and it was my only concern with him.

Wonderboy trains on a daily basis with a 200lbs monster in Chris Weidman and also trains with Ryan Hall who is an very respected Jiu Jitsu black belt. Him getting this kind of confort with clinch situations and overrall ground game is what makes him so dangerous on the feet. He now has all the tools to make his striking work in MMA and i think it will be a very hard puzzle to solve.

Hendricks looked like a shell of himself against Wonderboy, I personally don't put much stock into that.
Also I meant you didn't breakdown the wrestling, I shouldn't have said you didn't mention it.

Its a good breakdown, I think it's a closer fight then you make it out to be. For as much as we praise Wonderboy's striking - it's pretty flawed from a boxing standpoint, and it'll be interesting to see what happens if his distance fails him. I'm watching some fights, and to this day he still seriously flares his elbows before he starts punching combinations.

It'll be interesting.

 

[ArtemV]

I hope Wonderboy wins, if he can constantly move away from Woodley, I think it will be a reasonably easy win for him.

 

[Uber_Noober]

Great break down, I agreee with the outcome. But this is still racist cuz you got Woodley losing.

 

[asdf122345]

Nice breakdown. I agree with your outcome as well. But I still got this feeling Woodley will finish this in 1st or 2nd rnd by KO.

 

[mc3]

Sherdog needs more threads like this. Can we get something for RDA vs Ferg since thats the next big fight.

 

[Morning finger]

Nice post..tho it did lack something about Conor and or platinum mike.. What's up with that ??