170 pounds is a deep division so there are plenty of options. That would be a hell of a bout but maybe they want to try and set that up for a bigger spot. Maybe he can fight Robbie Lawler who also lost to Woodley in his last fight. If/when that happens I think he’ll get another crack at the belt. He has to get back out there and keep winning fights while hoping Woodley loses to someone sooner rather than later. As far as Thompson goes, his stock shouldn’t fall much at all. Looks like ‘The Chosen One’ doesn’t have a choice except to wait. GSP is booked for a fight against Michael Bisping for the middleweight title (more on that later) and thats not happening until at least July. Thats a fight he should win but its not a slam dunk and even if he does that would delay the possibility of him fighting Woodley. So whats next for the welterweight division? Damien Maia should clearly get the next title shot but he just got booked in a fight next month against Jorge Masvidal. Its unfortunate but at least we learned one thing – these two should never fight each other again. I personally don’t see any way that Woodley won three rounds to outright win the fight but at the same time Thompson didn’t do anything to put a stamp on his performance. Woodley clearly won round three with a big takedown and some strikes on the ground and round five but even if you gave him a 10-8 in the final round it should’ve just ended in another draw. Despite not much happening Thompson controlled the cage and was dictating the action. I had Wonderboy winning rounds one, two, and four pretty clearly. He had the biggest moment of the fight almost knocking Thompson out but it came in the final 30 seconds of the fifth round. To top it off it ended with a bad decision that let Woodley keep his belt. It was one of the most boring title fights I’ve ever seen, up there with the trilogy of Anderson Silva fights against Maia, Patrick Cote, and Thales Leites in the middle of his run. When that happens you get what you saw Saturday night, both guys staring at each other and feinting to try and get the other to throw a punch. Both guys clearly had made adjustments and decided they would wait for the other to attack so they could counter. In the first match both guys had great moments, most notably Woodley almost finishing Thompson multiple times but unable to get it done. Damien Maia was sitting there as the top contender ready to fight the winner and maybe in hindsight they should’ve gave him a title shot before going back to the Wonderboy well. We Really Wanted This Rematch? – Following their co-main event war that ended in a draw on the epic UFC 205 card at Madison Square Garden most people including myself wanted them to run it back right away to determine a winner. (You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.) Things will pick up again but the first quarter of the year has been disappointing. You’re going to have highs and lows especially at the highest level that transcends the hardcore audience. Even the fights that have looked great on paper have either not lived up to the hype or fallen through for one reason or another. They burned through a lot of interesting title fights at the tail end of 2016 and unless you’re Donald Cerrone fighters can’t bounce back fast enough to get back out there a few months later. With Conor McGregor on hiatus, Ronda Rousey looking like she’s going to retire, and Jon Jones in the middle of suspension the UFC has been forced to try to turn to other means to create buzz but so far it just isn’t working. 2017 has been lackluster to say the least. Following the most successful year in the UFC’s history things are surely not going according to plan for the company’s new owners WME-IMG.
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