UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has finally closed his chapter with rival Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
Fighting for the second time in less than four months, Woodley and Thompson returned to the Octagon following UFC 205, where they fought to a majority draw.
Using a calculated and measured approach, Woodley paced for the majority of the 25-minute affair, circling to the right while blocking high kicks from Thompson. Thompson moved around the perimeter during the first and second rounds, using his range to keep distance.
In the third, Woodley scored and early takedown and did damage on the ground. However, in the fourth, Thompson returned to his range game, outpointing Woodley on the feet.
With the scores close heading into the fifth frame, Woodley mounted the most significant offense of the bout, dropping Thompson twice in the final minute. The late flurry ultimately sealed the deal for Woodley, who made the second defense of his welterweight title.
“When you fight someone for the second time it’s like a chess match, you don’t want to give up anything. I knew that his game plan was going to be to keep it on the outside and not let me get in close because that’s where I do the most damage and he did a great job,” offered Woodley. “He was covering very well at the end of the fifth and I hit him. It reminded me of the last time, it was almost verbatim the same sequence.”
In the evening’s co-main event, Swedish striker David Teymur pulled the upset, earning a unanimous decision over Lando Vannata.
Sweeping all three judges’ scorecards, Teymur utilized his kickboxing to withstand Vannata’s unorthodox striking approach, which included cartwheel kicks, and several spinning attempts.
With the bout close from the opening bell, Teymur managed to mix in takedowns with his repertoire of kicks to the body and jabs. Vannata delivered significant offense, trading with Teymur throughout.
A fight much closer than the score reflected, the bout between Teymur and Vannata was named the evening’s Fight of the Night.
“I feel awesome. I deserve this,” explained Teymur. “I’m coming for the world title. I am going to take MMA striking to a new level. The time will show this.”
Making his middleweight debut, former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans came up short against Olympic judoka Dan Kelly in a close, split decision.
Evans came out strong, using his boxing and footwork to land jabs and keep Kelly at a distance. However, Kelly found his range as the fight played on, catching Evans, repeatedly, with his jab while stalking forward.
The pair continued to exchange throughout the bout, both landing with consistency. Evans and Kelly stood in the pocket for the better part of the third round, trading punches until the final bell.
“It means the world to me to fight someone like Rashad Evans,” commented Kelly. “I think I had more forward pressure, I think I hit him a little bit more than he hit me; granted he took me down, but he couldn’t get any control. I think the forward pressure probably won me the fight. That, and the dirty boxing.”
Promoted to the main card on the eve of the fight, after originally scheduled co-headliner Khabib Nurmagomedov was forced from his interim lightweight title fight against Tony Ferguson, strawweight Cynthia Calvillo made good on her UFC debut, needing less than a round to finish Amanda Cooper.
With Cooper landing early on account of her crisp boxing, Calvillo went to her grappling, attempting a high-risk maneuver to land a takedown and roll into an anaconda choke submission attempt.
From the choke, Calvillo again swept, this time transitioning to the back mount, where she quickly found Cooper’s neck for the rear naked choke. The tapout came at 3:19 of the first round.
“I feel amazing, I feel great, but overall this doesn’t surprise me,” stated Calvillo. “I just want to keep climbing the ranks. My ultimate goal is to be a world champion, so I just need to work my way up there until I get that shot. I’ll fight anybody.” I have respect for all of the women in the division and I’m willing to fight whoever I need to to get to where I need to be.”
Opening up the main card, third-ranked heavyweight Alistair Overeem returned to the win column, finishing eighth-ranked Mark Hunt with a knee and punch combination in the third round.
A rematch of a 2008 affair, Overeem and Hunt came out striking, with both fighters attacking the legs early. Overeem, in particular, did significant damage to Hunt’s shin, opening up a nasty gash early on. However, Hunt continued to throw the leg, landing body kicks and punches throughout the second round.
The third was all Overeem, as the Dutch striker used his significant height and reach advantage to pick Hunt apart before the finishing combo, which started with a left elbow in the clinch, followed by a right knee, that sent Hunt stumbling forward.
And with Hunt already on the way down, Overeem missed on a follow-up knee, but connected on a final uppercut that forced the stoppage.
“I am very proud, but I am also very proud of my team. This is a great group of guys surrounding me and we might be old, but we’re not done yet,” explained Overeem. “There are a couple of new guys coming, so I’d like to put them away.”
In a wild comeback, fourteenth-ranked featherweight Darren Elkins withstood a vicious first-round beating from Mirsad Bektic to earn a third-round TKO stoppage.
With Bektic landing flush combinations early on, he spent the majority of the frame unloading ferocious elbows on the ground, cutting Elkins above the eye. In the second round, Elkins was able to withstand the majority of Bektic’s takedown attempts, repeatedly transitioning in the clinch to land strikes.
With the bout tied at one round a piece heading into the third, Elkins displayed superior cardio and conditioning, absorbing strikes, while dominating Bektic in the clinch. Even diving for a late heel hook, Elkins continued to search for the finish, which eventually came at 3:19 after landing a punch square on Bektic’s jaw, then dropping him with a head kick and follow-up punch.
The effort earned Elkins a Performance of the Night bonus. He was unavailable for comment following the bout.
Preceding Elkins and Bektic’s wild affair, fourteen-time UFC veteran Iuri Alcantara earned a Performance of the Night bonus for his second-round kneebar of Luke Sanders.
Sanders dominated the first round, landing crisp shots while taking Alcantara down and landing ground and pound. Late in the first, however, Sanders threw, and landed, an illegal knee that resulted in a point deduction.
In the second, Sanders continued his offensive output, but Alcantara absorbed the damage and found his opening on the ground, isolating Sanders’ leg for a kneebar submission.
“I train so much jiu jitsu that I was able to make the leg lock a natural submission for me,” added Alcantara. “I saw the opening immediately and was able to secure the victory.”
UFC 209 Official Results
- Tyron Woodley def. Stephen Thompson via majority decision (48-47, 47-47, 48-47)
- David Teymur def. Lando Vannata via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Daniel Kelly def. Rashad Evans via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Cynthia Calvillo def. Amanda Cooper via tapout (rear naked choke) R1, 3:19
- Alistair Overeem def. Mark Hunt via KO (knees and punches) R3, 1:44
- Marcin Tybura def. Luis Henrique da Silva via TKO (punches) R3, 3:46
- Darren Elkins def. Mirsad Bektic via TKO (punch and head kick) R3, 3:19
- Iuri Alcantara def. Luke Sanders via tapout (kneebar) R2, 3:13
- Mark Godbeer def. Daniel Spitz via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Tyson Pedro def. Paul Craig via TKO (elbows) R1, 4:10
- Albert Morales def. Andre Soukhamthath via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)