Stephen Thompson breaks down Tyron Woodley vs. Demian Maia

While Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia have no date finalized for their highly anticipated welterweight title fight, all signs point towards Maia getting the next welterweight title fight against the champ.

That fight has the MMA community torn on their predictions for the scrap, with many wondering stylistically how the pair will matchup given that Maia’s strength is his Jiu-Jitsu, and Woodley’s strength is his impressive wrestling background.

During an interview with Submission Radio, former welterweight title challenger Stephen Thompson spoke about how he sees the fight playing out, saying:

“Tyron is a very strong opponent,” Thompson said. “I mean, he’s proven he can go five five-minute rounds. But man, if Demian Maia gets a hold of him, it’s gonna be a rough night for Tyron. But I do believe that Tyron can send him off of those takedowns. He’s such a powerful guy, great wrestling, good takedown defense. Demian is definitely gonna have a hard time getting Tyron down, and that’s where the whole debacle is gonna be.”

“It could be a stand-up fight. I don’t know if Demian could get Tyron down or not. Maybe he can control him against the cage, but he’s so explosive and so powerful, I think Demian is gonna have a very hard time doing that. And plus, you’ve seen in the past with Demian in the later rounds he gets tired ‘cause he tries so hard to get his opponents down. And you saw the Demian Maia fight, even when he fought Matt Brown, the last round he was just done, you know, it took one hundred percent of him to try and get him down.”

“But that’s a very interesting fight, a very interesting fight and a great fight for both guys,” he continued. “But man, they both have the potential to win, but I don’t know. I don’t think Demian will take him down.”

on 6/9/2017.