SHOW: UFC 209 (Las Vegas, USA).
Start: 07.00 (Moscow time).
The second round of the duel between Woodley and Thompson will take place in Las Vegas, where another great show from the UFC will take place. The first fight between current welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and title challenger Stephen Thompson ended in a draw, leaving Woodley with the title. In the rematch, passions promise to boil even more, and both fighters will strive with all their might to gain the right to be called a champion.
Tyron Woodley (USA)
Record:20 fights - 16 victories (11 early) - 3 defeats (1 early);
Age:34 years old;
Height:175 cm;
Weight:77 kg;
Arm span:188 cm.
Stephen Thompson (USA)
Record:15 fights - 13 victories (8 early) - 1 defeat - 1 draw;
Age:34 years old;
Height:183 cm;
Weight:77 kg;
Arm span:191 cm.
Last fights
Tyron Woodley has caught his star and is not going to give the title to anyone. The black American has been achieving success for a long time, defeating opponents such as Condit, Kim, Gastelum and Chiron. But with McVardt, Shields and MacDonald, Tyrone suffered setbacks, but each time he did not give up and went to the long-awaited and so desired title. Woodley won the championship belt in flamboyant style, sending Robbie Lawler himself “into a deep sleep.” Then, as a champion, Woodley was not afraid to go up against the tough Stephen Thompson, with whom he brought the fight to a draw.
But we were seriously disappointed with Thompson in the title fight, where he didn’t show nearly the striking power that everyone saw in the challenger’s previous fights. Among the victims of the “miracle boy” it is worth noting such UFC fighters as MacDonald, Ellenberger and Hendricks. It seems that if he fails in this fight, Thompson could seriously damage his reputation as an ideal fighter.
Fighting style
Tyron Woodley is good in absolutely everything except anthropometry, when compared with the tall Thompson. However, in the first fight we did not see this advantage of Stephen, just as we did not see his ability to work in a standing position, where he a priori seemed to be a more dangerous fighter. And all this makes the return match incredibly interesting.
Forecast
Everything here is very interesting, both fighters are worth each other and are opposites in the ring - the emotional Thompson and the calm Woodley. But on at the moment there is only one option to bet on this fight, which has a high chance of winning! This is a bet that the guys will spend more than 2 rounds in the octagon.
Bid: Total over (2.5) - coefficient 1.57.
About returning to the old weighing format:
“I know Dana White says they want to go back to 4-5 p.m. weigh-ins, and my answer to that is hell no. During my last weight cut, I was thinking about how I would do the weight if I had another half a day before the weigh-in. In fact, not even half a day - on Thursday I would do weights, and I would have to maintain myself in this state until five o'clock evening, night and another half day. Allowing less time for recovery is simply stupid. People are lazy. People don't do weights because they know it will work. Like, okay, I'll give away twenty percent of my fee, but if I win, I'll still move up in the rankings, and most likely for next fight I'll get paid more. Do you understand what's going on? The current punishment is simply not enough. If the UFC takes stricter measures, such as canceling the fight, forfeiting half of the earnings, or banning promotions, then I am confident that more people will start following the rules"
“Judging by social media, all the fighters have made it clear that they do not want to go back to the old afternoon weigh-in. So I don't understand why the UFC is still planning to do this. I think this will result in more fights being canceled by the Athletic Commission. For example, Yoel Romero at UFC 225. Given his condition, the commission would never have allowed the fight to take place if the weigh-in took place not in the morning, but at 4-5 o’clock. There is no doubt that the fight would have been cancelled."
About the dos Anjos-Covington fight:
“Hats off to Colby Covington because he did a phenomenal job against Rafael dos Anjos. He plays the bad guy and is very successful at it. He put on quite a show in Chicago. His cardio is incredible, so it was an impressive win for Colby considering he was up against a guy as dangerous as RDA. Of course, Raphael didn't get destroyed and stayed in the fight and kept throwing punches, but it was amazing to see what a fantastic pace Colby was able to maintain throughout the fight. He really did an incredible job."
On the Woodley-Covington confrontation:
"I think Tyron Woodley will become more ordeal for Colby. Tyrone has very good wrestling defense and I believe he is physically much stronger than Colby Covington. Woodley is much bigger than RDA. When Tyrone hits you, one hit can be all it takes. He can finish a fight with one clean shot, and I definitely saw a few holes in Colby's game. Of course I study these guys when I watch their fights because I will have to fight them in the near future. Colby has a habit of lowering his head every time he hits. Every time he throws a swing, he puts his head down. When I saw this, I told myself that Tyrone, or any other serious striker, could catch him with an uppercut and knock him out. However, I think Colby has a chance to win if he can get the fight into the later rounds. Tyrone was never famous good cardio. If Colby comes out and plays his cards smart, keeps the pressure constant, and doesn't get knocked out, then he can definitely win this fight. But with an opponent like Tyrone, who only needs one hit to knock you out, it will be very difficult. Woodley has a very high fight IQ - it’s not for nothing that he works as an analyst. I'm sure he will have a very strong plan for the fight with Colby. This is a very interesting fight. First of all, Tyrone shouldn't let Colby get under his skin because if Covington does, Woodley will try to knock him out at all costs, which will cause him to get tired very quickly. But Woodley is a very smart guy and I'm sure he won't let his emotions get the better of him. So I would bet on Tyrone, but Colby definitely has a chance. But just because I was impressed with Colby's performance at UFC 225 doesn't mean I like him. I hope Woodley wins."
About the next fight:
“You know, I damaged my knee ligaments in the fight with Till. We did an MRI and luckily I won't need surgery, but I need at least eight weeks and proper treatment before I can return to training."
“I was thinking about my next opponent and given the time I will be out of the game, I doubt that Darren Till, who is ranked number two, will be waiting for me to give me revenge. Most guys will want to fight sooner, so the one guy I've been wanting to fight for a long time who is also coming back from a knee injury is Robbie Lawler. This will be a really exciting fight, which is what I'm looking for after my last two performances. Lawler was one of my idols who I grew up watching. I watched his fights before I even got into the UFC. He is number five in the rankings, and I have already talked about this with Dana White - I hope we can organize it. Dana told me that after the Till fight, I can choose any fight I want, except for the winner of the Covington-RDA match or finishing the trilogy with Woodley, so a fight with Robbie would be a great gift for forfeits.
“The reason why I immediately called Robbie Lawler is because at that time the Covington-RDA fight had not yet taken place. I wasn't sure who would win this fight. Now that it has taken place, I believe that RDA would be an excellent opponent for me. I'm sure it would be a great fight. Either of these two guys, Lawler or RDA, would be a great opponent for me."
Expect to see UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway win in a competitive bout on July 27 against challenger Frankie Edgar.
“I'm watching their fight. I think Max can handle it, but Frankie will create problems for him if the downtime doesn't affect him. He's missed a lot, but he's not getting any younger. “Everything depends on it,” Volkanovski said in an interview with BJ Penn Radio. - A couple of years ago, Frankie could have created serious problems for Max. He has a high rhythm and cannot be worn out. He has a fight. Frankie could take away a few elements of his style from Max. But Max is also good and able to adapt. He could find a way to beat Frankie early or win a decision. If Frankie doesn’t go down right away, the fight will be competitive.”
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AIBA may go bankrupt after being expelled from the IOCThe International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) could go bankrupt if the International Olympic Committee at its meeting next week approves the organization's executive committee's recommendations to suspend AIBA's membership in the IOC. In this case, AIBA will not organize the boxing tournament at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and will lose $17.5 million in revenue. A letter from AIBA executive director Tom Virgets to members of the executive committee, quoted by the Associated Press, said that "the IOC's actions were clearly aimed at bankrupting the organization, and AIBA has now lost all sources of income."
Virjets' letter also states that the organization has $400,000 left in its accounts; it cannot afford to challenge the IOC's decision in the Sports Court. arbitration court in Lausanne and dismisses all staff except three people in his central office in Lausanne.
Earlier, the Secretary General of the Russian Boxing Federation, Umar Kremlev, proposed to personally close AIBA’s debts, which he estimated at $16 million, but this proposal did not meet with support either in the organization itself or in the IOC.
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Cormier, Cejudo, Adesanya and Amanda Nunes are nominated for the prestigious ESPY awardESPN has announced four nominees for the new category. Best fighter MMA." Three of them are two-division champions: Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, Henry Cejudo. The fourth was temporary UFC champion in the middle weight category Israel Adesanya. Fans can vote for their candidate. The award ceremony will take place on July 10 in Los Angeles.
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Kazuto Ioka became champion in the fourth weight category30-year-old Kazuto Ioka yesterday in Japan won by technical knockout over 28-year-old Filipino Aston Palicte and on his second attempt won the vacant WBO super bantamweight belt (we recall that in December he lost the fight for the vacant title to Donnie Nietes, who resigned in March relinquish his championship powers so as not to carry out a mandatory defense against Palikte). Ioka had the advantage throughout the fight, and in the tenth round he shocked his opponent and carried out a series of unanswered blows, after which the referee stopped the fight.
This victory made Ioku the first in history Japanese champion world in four weight categories.
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Henry Cejudo will miss the rest of the year after shoulder surgeryUFC two-division champion Henry Cejudo tore muscles in his shoulder in the first round of his fight with Marlon Moraes, requiring surgery. Injured subscapularis muscle had surgery on Wednesday. Doctors give 4-5 months for recovery. Most likely, Henry will not be able to defend either of the two belts in the two weight categories until the end of 2019.
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Bob Arum on the Crawford-Spence fightAmerican promoter Bob Arum said in an interview with Helen Yee Sports that a unification fight between WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford, whose interests he represents, and IBF title holder Errol Spence is planned for next year. Arum suggested dividing prize fund equally, but with a bonus to the winner of 10 percent, and again lamented that with intermediate fights they risk missing out on the opportunity for a big fight.
“We proposed organizing this fight with the participation of two TV channels, making a paid broadcast and dividing the proceeds equally. “Just like with the Wilder-Fury fight,” Arum said. “When I called [Spence's adviser] Al Haymon, he said Spence would fight one more time this year and then we'd think about Crawford-Spence next year. I'm tired of "next year." Let's do it this year when interest in boxing has increased so much. Let's not let interest wane. Let's give it to the viewers best fights this year and it will lay the foundation for great fights next year.”
