Haters will hate, but Tyron Woodley is a UFC great

By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Tyron Woodley) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

"You may not think he's the best 170-pounder ever, but after he beat Darren Till for his fourth title defense, it's time we make something clear. Tyron Woodley has to be one of the greatest fighters of his time."

Every UFC fighter thinks they're the greatest. 

Over the past year or so, UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has been telling anyone would listen that he is the is the greatest welterweight of all time. 

It was generally met with raised eyebrows. Woodley's critics point out that the welterweight division was once home to Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes, so how could he even think of being the best?

But in last week's UFC 228 main event, Woodley notched up his latest title defense by decimating giant Englishman Darren Till with a second round submission. It was his fourth defense in a row.

Just like his other title fights, 'The Chosen One' was the underdog. And just like his other title fights, he literally defied the odds to emerge with the belt around his waist. 

With this latest win, something has to change in the narrative. You may not think he's the best 170-pounder ever, but it is time we establish something: Tyron Woodley has to be one of the greatest fighters of his era.

The reason is simple. Woodley reigns supreme over the most dangerous set of challengers in the entire UFC.

Why? Let's make some comparisons between Woodley's welterweight division and the lightweight division--which are the two best men's divisions in the UFC.

 Woodley won his welterweight title on July 30 2016. To give you an idea of how long ago that was, Eddie Alvarez had just won the lightweight title three weeks earlier by beating Rafael Dos Anjos.

Since then, the lightweight title went to Conor McGregor--who didn't defend it for around 18 months--before Khabib Nurmagomedov snatched it up. Think about that. Since Woodley won his belt, the lightweight crown has changed hands three times and gone undefended for nearly two years.  In that period, Woodley defended his title three times with no fuss. Among the UFC's current list of champions, he has reigned the longest. Welterweight is just as talent-stacked as lightweight(if not possibly more). But there isn't any drama with Woodley. While the division below his own descends into chaos, he just keeps his division chugging along. He's been matched up with pure killers; specialists in their art. But he just keeps on going, beating whoever is placed in front of him. The lightweight division is equally tough, but you don't see anyone reigning over them with Woodley's consistency.  And it's not like the man is beating up tin cans. He beat Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson, one of the best strikers in the entire UFC, before dominating the living jiu-jitsu legend Demian Maia. When he first won his title, he destroyed the brawler supreme Robbie Lawler in one round. Now with the Darren Till win, he's added a gigantic precocious striker to his list of conquests. To use a football analogy, imagine a team topping a Champions League group of Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, and Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool sides. Each opponent's weapons are honed precisely to be brilliant at their own specific style, and each opponent demands a different approach. Woodley still tops the group. Calling him boring is naïve. To defeat this level of opponent, you need a good strategy and you need to carry it out perfectly. Woodley does that.

By Atlanta Falcons (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdv2_4XE0VU) [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The Chosen One' is one of those anomalies in the MMA realm: a physical specimen with a superb all-round game. He also has some of the scariest punching power in the UFC--just watch his knockouts of Lawler, Josh Koscheck, and the shot that floored Till.

But, as Till himself noted, Woodley's intelligence gives him an added edge. He knows exactly how to neutralise his opponents' most powerful weapons. Sometimes that translates into a slightly dull fight. But then again, who cares? He emerges triumphant. Yet he's always the underdog in his title defenses--and how weird is that? He's also not as well known as he should be among casual fans, and he argues that this is because the UFC isn't promoting him sufficiently. It's likely that many Asian fans might better know him from his cameo in a Hindi movie, where he was 'defeated'(there aren't enough air quotes for this word) by some dude called Salman Khan. As horrendous as that was to write, it's a telling point. Woodley simply isn't as appreciated as he should be. You may not like his animosity with the UFC and you may not like the way he complains about how he's been under-promoted(although his gripes are justified). He may not be the greatest welterweight of all time, and maybe he will never reach that pinnacle. It's subjective, and both Hughes and GSP are living legends. But you cannot deny him a place among the pantheon of modern UFC greats. When he hangs up his gloves--hopefully not for a long, long time--he will occupy rarefied air.  Until then, enjoy his reign--Tyron Woodley, the conqueror of specialists  who specialises in conquest.