Tyron Woodley was on the cusp of stopping Stephen Thompson in the UFC 205 co-main event, but Wonderboy amazingly survived multiple knockdowns and multiple submission attempts. Fortunately for Woodley, he retained his UFC welterweight title, although there was mass confusion over the reading of the scorecards, which led to massive boos at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Not a single strike was thrown in the first minute of the opening round. Wonderboy threw a left high kick which was blocked. Woodley caught a Wonderboy kick and took him down. Wonderboy had an underhook from half-guard but Woodley flattened him down and threw some elbows and then punches to the liver. The champion controlled the challenger on the mat for more than half the round, and his ground-and-pound led to a wide disparity in strikes landed in the opening frame. Huge elbow cut Wonderboy open and he was bleeding considerably.
Thompson went in for a two-punch combo early in the 2nd but Woodley immediately closed the distance and took away the space for Wonderboy to work. They spun each other around a couple of times in the clinch. Woodley was content to fight off his backfoot and pressed up against the cage. Woodley took a spinning back kick to the midsection. Thompson flicked a jab at the champion. A nice left hand backed Woodley up and then the champ whiffed on his powerful right hand. Thompson was starting to find his range with his straight left.
Woodley was headhunting with the right hand but Wonderboy was able to counter him on one of those occasions to start the 3rd. Woodley flashed a jab. Another straight left landed for Wonderboy with Woodley backed against the fence. Woodley put in a good leg kick but Wonderboy answered back with several hard punches that stung Woodley. He dug a right hand to the body of the champion, who continued to fight with his back up against the fence. Wonderboy fired off a wheel kick that Woodley evaded. Tyron got countered again looking for his big right hand shot. Hard, powerful leg kick buckled Thompson and caught him off balance. Woodley tagged Thompson twice with the power right but he took it well (or appeared to) at the end of the round.
Wonderboy opened up round 4 with a quick leg kick. Sharp counter right hand, as well. WBig right hand dropped Thompson and he was hurt. He hurt him again with the right and dropped him again. Woodley just went for an onslaught of punches and elbows on the ground but Wonderboy survived. Thompson was in all sorts of trouble and got battered with knees and was out on his feet. Woodley went for a guillotine but did not finish it. He dropped down for it again and it looked incredibly tight. Woodley kept squeezing and squeezing and Thompson would not tap. Wonderboy’s head was free after about two minutes worth of an outrageous beating and a serious set of guillotines. Thompson wound up on top and started throwing ground-and-pound that was mostly missing. An unbelievable round 4 that looked for sure to be over, but somehow wasn’t.
A jumping round kick by Wonderboy was blocked. He later threw a nice high kick that wasn’t fully blocked. Woodley threw virtually nothing of consequence in the first two minutes of the final round. Thompson was persistent with the jab but not throwing in high volume. Big right hand by Wonderboy caught Woodley. Leg kick buckled Woodley just a little bit. It was all Thompson in the final round but the possibility that round 4 was a 10-8 meant that Woodley could still be in strong position to retain his title. Woodley rushed forward with two right hands that didn’t have much steam on them. Left hand and then a right stung Woodley in the closing seconds of a dramatic title fight.
Official result: Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson ends in a majority draw (47-47, 47-47, 48-47) to remain UFC welterweight champion
The fight was initially read out by Bruce Buffer as a split decision win for Woodley, with the same scorecards read as listed in the post. Either outcome would’ve meant Woodley still retaining his belt, but that was a massive fail by Buffer and/or the New York State Athletic Commission.