T. Woodley remains UFC champion (Photo: Reproduction Facebook UFC)
Couldn't Demian Maia. After seven consecutive victories at welterweight, the Brazilian received his title shot at UFC 214, but was unable to impress his game against the champion. Tyron woodley and ended up defeated by unanimous decision from the side judges. The Brazilian had 25 takedown attempts, but all of them were repelled by the North American wrestler, who reached his third belt defense.
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After the fight, Woodley was heavily booed for his performance, as he broke the record for the fewest connected strikes in the history of welterweight title fights. Even with complaints from the fans, who shouted the word “boredom” during the fight, the North American maintained his composure post-fight, praising Demian Maia and said he was proud of his performance.
“I knew I was going to face a tough guy in Demian Maia, so I did what I had to do to win”, declared the champion.
The fight
The first round started with a lot of momentum from Maia, who immediately tried to get the takedown. However, the first time the Brazilian grabbed Woodley's legs, the champion managed to land an uppercut that injured the jiu-jitsu black belt's left eye. From then on, Demian had difficulty finishing the takedown and “Chosen One” managed to gain confidence, repelling seven takedown attempts in the first round alone.
With his left eye badly injured, Maia entered the second round having difficulty dealing with Woodley's hands and even suffered a knockdown. Demian also tried straight lefts, managing to land good blows on Woodley, who absorbed them well. At the end of the round, the North American attempted some provocations, but received no response from the Brazilian.
In the third round, Woodley stuck to his plan of staying at long range, occasionally attacking Maia with hard hands. The Brazilian offered more resistance, managed to defend the blows better, but was still hit more than he did. Demian tried a few more takedowns, but they were all repelled by the American. The fourth round developed in a similar way, with Woodley waiting for his rival to arrive to unleash blows and avoiding more takedowns.
In the fifth round, knowing that he needed to do something drastic to change the course of the fight, Demian started more aggressive, trying more takedowns, but being frustrated in every attempt. The Brazilian threw more blows too and briefly stunned Woodley on more than one occasion, but it was far from enough to knock out the North American.
UFC 214 results:
MAIN CARD
Light Heavyweight: Jon Jones derrotou Daniel Cormier by technical knockout at 3:10 of R3
Welterweight Weight: Tyron woodley won Demian Maia by unanimous decision (50×45, 2x 49-46)
Feather weight: Chris Cyborg defeated Tonya Evinger by technical knockout at 1:53 of R3
Welterweight Weight: Robbie Lawler derrotou Donald Cerrone by decision of the judges (29×28, 29×28, 29×28)
Light Heavyweight: Volkan oezdemir defeated Jimi Manuwa by technical knockout at 42 seconds of R1
PRELIMINARY CARD
Featherweight: Ricardo Lamas defeated Jason Knight by TKO at 4:34 of R1
Married weight (63,5kg): aljamain sterling derrotou Renan Barao by unanimous decision of the judges (29×28, 29×27, 30×26)
Feather weight: Brian ortega derrotou Renato Moicano by submission (guillotine) at 2m59s of R3
Feather weight: Calvin kattar derrotou André Fili by unanimous decision of the judges (30×27, 30×27, 30×27)
Strawweight: Alexandra Albu defeated Kailin Curran by unanimous decision (29×28, 29×28, 29×28)
Flyweight: Jarred Brooks defeated Eric Shelton via split decision (29×28, 28×29, 29×28)
Lightweight: Drew dober defeated Josh Burkman by knockout at 3:04 of R1
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