Back in 2013, Tyron Woodley was already on a 10-fight win streak. That was, until he was finished by former UFC middleweight Nate Marquardt at the time. Regardless of the lone loss, he still got the call to make his UFC debut and he wasn’t about to let that go to waste. He stepped in on short notice against a game Jay Hieron at UFC 156. It was headlined by the highly anticipated fight between Jose Aldo and Frankie Edgar, but Woodley made sure people were still talking about him before the night was over. He scored one of only two knockouts on the card in devastating fashion.
“UFC 156. That’s when I put the world on notice. I had just came off getting my butt knocked out by Nate Marquardt in the [welterweight] world title fight in Strikeforce. Got the call that I was in the UFC. Obviously, I wanted to make a statement and tell all the welterweights that I was here, I was on the mat, and I was going to try to put it down. I remember this walkout right here. I remember what I was thinking. Let’s go out there. Let’s be explosive. Be first. Be dominant. Get in his face. Get him outta there. That’s all I was thinking about the whole time. Erase your last loss. That was actually my first loss, so I wanted to get that off. Erase the heck outta that.”
“I heard Joe Rogan say, ‘Well, Tyron is working on his striking.’ I said, you know what? I’m outta here. Took off. Did my little independent motion or Karate blitz, whatever you want to call it. I hit him. Before he hit the ground, I was already making my way behind him to punch. When he turned over to his back and gave me the guard position, I was punching again and I kept punching and kept punching until the lights went off. I was just in the complete zone. He went stiff. I remember pushing his legs and arms off me walking away. I went back and watched it and I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know what I was thinking at that moment.'” — Tyron Woodley speaking to UFC on FOX.
Jay Hieron wasn’t expecting Tyron Woodley. He was originally scheduled to step into the Octagon with Erick Silva on this day five years ago. He probably wasn’t expecting that rocket-powered punch only 36-seconds in that Woodley has become known for. It’s the same punch that knocked out former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler to win Woodley the UFC title in the first place. The same punch that gave him redemption from not winning the Strikeforce welterweight belt all those years ago. Since then, he’s defended the belt three times and doesn’t show any signs of stopping.
Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley feels fighting in the UFC Apex towards the end of his promotional career impacted his in-cage performances.
