Tonight, both Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson will be in action four years after the publication of the following article. Woodley will look to leave no doubt that he is better than Jake Paul while Thompson will be competing against Belal Muhammad at UFC Vegas 45. The two also made headlines earlier this week for having some level of involvement in the Netflix series Cobra Kai.
As far as their own personal history goes, Woodley and Thompson fought one another in the UFC two times. The first encounter at UFC 209 resulted in a majority draw. Prior to their UFC 209 rematch, which Woodley would go on to win, Thompson believed he had “The Chosen One’s Number.”
The following article is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of the MMA News Archives.
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 10, 2017, 11:52 PM]
Headline: Stephen Thompson: ‘I’ve Got Tyron Woodley’s Number’
Author: Fernando Quiles Jr.
The welterweight title rematch between champion Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson is finally official. After trading barbs and talk of big money fights, the two finally reached a deal to scrap once again at UFC 209.
“Wonderboy” and “The Chosen One” went to war at UFC 205 in New York City in November. Thompson took an incredible amount of punishment, but was never out of the fight. They went the distance and the fight was ruled a majority draw. Both men earned a “Fight of the Night” bonus.
Woodley still argues that he was the clear winner in their first encounter and that in the rematch, he’ll prove that he is the better fighter. Thompson has other plans (via MMAJunkie Radio):
“There’s going to be no doubt in everybody’s mind who the winner of that fight is going to be, and that’s going to be me.”
Before agreeing to fight “Wonderboy” again, Woodley tried to secure a super fight with Nick Diaz. When that didn’t materialize, he aimed for middleweight champion Michael Bisping. Thompson criticized Woodley for trying to settle for a draw.
“He wants to fight everybody else but me is what it seems like. We did fight to a draw last time, which, in my eyes, we might as well have not even fought at all. It almost seems like he’s happy with a draw, and he’s OK with it. In my eyes, as a champion, I wouldn’t be happy with that.”
Thompson believes he has the champion figured out. The challenger is confident that he will walk away with only his hand raised and gold around his waist.
“I know I can hit him, and I can hit him with some power. I’ve got his number, man. Next time we step out there, I can just go out there and do my thing.”
UFC 209 takes place from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 4.
