Woodley's Transition

Logical Fella C

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Woodley's career in MMA is quite an interesting one.

I recall a thread about him 4~5 years back when he was still considered a prospect with a 6-0 or so record.

If I'm not mistaken, the OP drew a comparison between him and GSP for the wrestling / physical abilities and touted Woodley as a possible future champ for that reason.

Many felt that this comparison was a bit silly, since what made GSP so great was not just his wrestling and physical prowess, but also his striking abilities as well as his high fight IQ.

At the time, Woodley was mainly known as a wrestler with submission skills, as evidenced by his record. (I think it was before the Galvao fight.)

Fast forward half a decade later, I think people's perception of Woodley's changed completely, and now most would see him mainly as a wrestler with destructive power in his hands.

I guess this is quite a common theme for many talented wrestlers that transition into MMA, since striking presents a much steeper learning curve than submission would. e.g. Aljamain Sterling, Darrion Caldwell, the latter being still not all that comfortable in the stand-up department which cost him in his last fight.

But it's still quite interesting that Woodley hasn't had a single submission win on his record since 2009.

Anyone else who's gone through such a dramatic shift in the fighting style / record?

Off the top of my head, I'm thinking: RDA, maybe Werdum?
 
Mendes used to be a classic lay-n-pray fighter, but now he he's known for vicious knockout power.

In Stun Gun's UFC tenure, he went from lay-n-pray fighter to wild man.
 
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