UFC boss Dana White scored UFC 209 main event for Stephen Thompson over Tyron Woodley

LAS VEGAS – UFC President Dana White was among those who thought Stephen Thompson did enough to take the welterweight title from Tyron Woodley in the UFC 209 main event.

Woodley (17-3-1 MMA, 7-2-1 UFC) retained the 170-pound belt in Saturday’s pay-per-view headliner at T-Mobile Arena when he edged Thompson (13-2-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC) by majority decision in a rematch of a UFC 205 bout in November that ended in a majority draw.

The rematch was thin on action and tightly contested, and in the end two judges scored the fight for “The Chosen One” while another had it as a draw. Only five of 19 media outlets tracked by MMADecisions.com had it for Woodley, and White was among the majority who didn’t score the bout in his favor.

“I had it three (rounds) to two the other way,” White told reporters at UFC 209’s post-fight news conference. “I thought that ‘Wonderboy’ won three to two. One of the judges scored the last round 10-8, so that obviously throws (the scoring).”

After a five-round battle at UFC 205 that was awarded “Fight of the Night” honors, it was easy to believe that Woodley and Thompson would pick up where they left off at UFC 209. White thought the same, but that’s obviously not how the bout unfolded. Both men were hesitant to open up with their offense.

The crowd made its displeasure well known by showering the octagon with boos for large portions of the contest. White held back on unleashing too much criticism and said the fans were perhaps a little too harsh, but also admitted it was not a fight that’s going to do Woodley many favors in terms of raising his stock.

“It’s easy to sit in your seats, drink some beers and (eat) some popcorn and boo people, man,” White said. “They’re not in there fighting Tyron Woodley or ‘Wonderboy.’ A lot was at stake, and these guys fought the way they needed to fight to win. Woodley came out and made some big claims before the fight that we would have a definitive answer on who is the champion and things like that. I like Tyron. He’s talented. You’ve heard me say all the things he is. You can’t be upset at people now or whatever after that second fight.”

For complete coverage of UFC 209, check out the UFC Events section of the site.