9:03 pm | September 8, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:
DALLAS —Tyron Woodley took every negative critique against him — boring, old, slowing down — and delivered a brutal right hand to each one, scoring a second-round submission victory over Darren Till in the main event of UFC 228.
In one of the most impressive wins of his career, Woodley got the finish with a D’arce choke at 4:19 of the second round, but the fight was effectively over when Woodley dropped Till with his right hand and continued his attack on the ground, before getting the 25-year-old Liverpool native to finally tap.
“There’s a lot of people hating against me but there’s more people with me,” Woodley said. “It feels awesome. I’m a student of the game. Whoever they put in front of me I’ll beat them up.”
Woodley, who came in a slight underdog against the previously undefeated Till, successfully defended his title for the fourth time, which is the most by any active champion. Woodley also tied Pat Miletich for the third-longest title defense streak in welterweight history.
While Woodley’s victory put an exclamation point on one of the most exciting cards in UFC history, his last two title defenses were far from exciting. At UFC 209 in his rematch against Stephen Thompson, he landed just 54 significant strikes over five rounds, winning a majority decision. And in his last fight at UFC 214 against Demian Maia, he landed just 57 significant strikes and stuffed all 21 of Maia’s takedown attempts. Both victories drew harsh criticism from UFC president Dana White.
Woodley (19-3-1) is unbeaten in his past seven fights (6-0-1) after recording his five career win by submission and his first since 2009. Woodley is now expected to fight Colby Covington, who was the interim UFC welterweight champion, next although he wasn’t ready to talk about his next opponent yet.
“Whenever I name a name, I don’t get a good response,” Woodley said. “Whoever they put in front of me, I’m gonna beat up.”
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