Stephen Thompson believes Demian Maia may be in for a rude awakening if he meets Tyron Woodley later this year.
“Wonderboy” knows what it’s like to go one-on-one with the reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title holder. Thompson has gone 10 rounds with Woodley and couldn’t walk away with the gold in either fight.
Speaking with Submission Radio, Thompson said he can see Maia struggling to get “T-Wood” to the ground (via Bloody Elbow):
“Tyron is a very strong opponent. 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.”
“Wonderboy” believes Woodley’s takedown defense could force the fight to remain standing.
“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.”
