Carlos Condit and Tyron Woodley did not have the back-and-forth fight we had hoped for Saturday night in Dallas. Condit suffered an injury in the second round, and Woodley finished him off.
It was a much-needed win for the No. 11-ranked welterweight that moves him up the ladder in the division. He has title aspirations, but the injury to Condit may cloud his victory just enough to prevent him from laying claim to it.
Woodley did what he needed to, and nothing should be taken away from his performance. He is a top-10 welterweight and should be in the mix.
Pre-fight
Have Woodley at 56.8% Woodley top win method: Dec (37.1%) Condit top win method: Dec (24.1%) #UFC171
— Paul Gift (@MMAanalytics) March 16, 2014
#woodley vs #condit is SERIOUS! #UFC171 ??
— Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) March 16, 2014
TYRON WOODLEY CALLED HIMSELF EXPLOSIVE #UFC171
— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) March 16, 2014
"You don't really think of Tyron Woodley as a wrestler," Joe Rogan. You don't? The Tyron Woodley from Strikeforce?
— Jonathan Snowden (@mmaencyclopedia) March 16, 2014
Tyron Woodley out to "I Ain't Turning Back" by Thi'sl. Carlos Condit to "Further On Up the Road" by Johnny Cash. No RATM :( #UFC171
— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) March 16, 2014
Woodley's two wins in the octagon are via KO, Hieron & Koscheck the victims. #UFC171 #UFC #MMA
— Danny Acosta (@AcostaIsLegend) March 16, 2014
Condit has been fighting for so long that Natural Born Killer was only a fairly dated movie reference at the beginning of his career
— Brent Brookhouse (@brentbrookhouse) March 16, 2014
Condit has a 93% finishing rate. Best stat in fighting. Truly "The Natural Born Killer." #UFC171 #UFC #MMA
— Danny Acosta (@AcostaIsLegend) March 16, 2014
Round 1
Woodley landed some heavy shots on Condit, but he was not able to put him away. Condit has one of the best chins in the division. It showed. Woodley took the first frame clearly, but Condit remained a dangerous opponent with his well-rounded skill set.
Tyron Woodley just dropped the mic, only the mic was Condit. He made almost getting choked out look cool.
— Jonathan Snowden (@mmaencyclopedia) March 16, 2014
Another round like that please! #UFC171
— UFC (@ufc) March 16, 2014
Apparently Condit took an invincibility star from the Mushroom Kingdom before walking into the cage. #UFC171
— Tommy Toe Hold (@TommyToeHold) March 16, 2014
10-9 Woodley, rocked Condit with multiple rights early. He looks like he's slowing, though. Let me already say, as well: two more rounds.
— Jordan Breen (@jordanbreen) March 16, 2014
Thanks for cutting away UFC production. We didn't want to hear Greg Jackson tell his fighter the gameplan. SPOILER ALERT
— Jonathan Snowden (@mmaencyclopedia) March 16, 2014
This is fun to watch. 10-9 Woodley after 1.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 16, 2014
Round 2
The action looked to pick up in the second, but on a Woodley takedown it was clear something went array. Condit grimaced and tried to battle through the pain. When they stood back up Woodley threw a leg kick that made Condit put weight on his injured leg. He could not continue.
That really sucks. #UFC171
— Tommy Toe Hold (@TommyToeHold) March 16, 2014
Well that's unfortunate.
— Steven Rondina (@srondina) March 16, 2014
Woodley wins. Looked like Condit initially hurt his knee on a TW takedown. Then Woodley blasted CC's left leg and his right leg gave out.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 16, 2014
That's awful for Carlos. All that hard work and he doesn't get to see it through to the end.
— Jonathan Snowden (@mmaencyclopedia) March 16, 2014
Post-fight
Everyone in the press room wincing. RT @shaunalshatti: Gruesome replay...
— esther lin (@allelbows) March 16, 2014
Sucks that one of MMA's most violent guys just ganked his knee and that Woodley gets his win tarnished. He didn't look gunshy at all tonight
— Jordan Breen (@jordanbreen) March 16, 2014
UFC also avoids the Woodley-Shields dilemma since Lombard won. "We know what's next. The title," Woodley tells Rogan.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 16, 2014
As a sporting fan, really happy that Woodley targeted an obvious injury to get the win. That's what you should do.
— pdl (@pdlmma) March 16, 2014
Woodley: "I heard him say something when I took him down. He was complaining on about the knee. When he got back up I targeted it."
— Shaun Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) March 16, 2014
Woodley did the right thing by attacking the injury. No one should fault him for that. Now we will have to see where the chips fall in the welterweight division.
