Five years ago, the packed crowd at the T-Mobile Arena witnessed UFC’s first African champion as Kamaru Usman defeated Tyron Woodley. The stacked card had all the bells and whistles for a blockbuster but what got the fandom’s attention was Woodley’s mother consoling an emotional Usman after taking her son’s belt.
It was one of the most touching moments the sport has ever seen, one that can make statues weep. Following his dominant win, Usman on his way back to his dressing room couldn’t hold back the pent-up emotions when he saw Woodley’s mom backstage. Usman wept on her shoulder while Mama Woodley consoled him with strong words, patting his back –
“It’s your time. Be encouraged, you hear me? Because they are going to come for you and you take it to them.”
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While Usman lost his belt to Leon Edwards owing to the Brit’s devastating head kick KO in 2022 at UFC 278, Deborah Woodley’s words struck him deeply as he fought off all the challenges.
In fact, he stood his ground and defended the welterweight title for a record-high 1,267 days from 2019 to 2022, obliterating the opposition with an iron fist to become one of the sport’s most dominant champions a pound-for-pound great for all time to come.
As for Woodley, his stakes got even lower after suffering three more losses against Gilbert Burns, Colby Covington, and the final one against Vicente Luque before he parted ways with the UFC.
The dismal downfall of Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley
Tyron Woodley, a fighter who was once on the path to UFC greatness met his match when he faced Kamaru Usman. Ever since that bout, his career has been in a sharp decline. He had it all, power, speed, and cardio but somewhere in between what he lacked was the technical know-how to counter Usman’s relentless wrestling.
On his way to becoming the champion, Woodley flatlined some of the biggest names of the sport including, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, Robbie Lawler, Carlos Condit etc. But he was met with tough resistance when he took on ‘The Nigerian Nightmare.’
As for the bout, it was complete domination by the Nigerian who took the champ back to school, imposing his will on Woodley for the whole of five rounds.
Disheartened by the loss, Woodley could never again climb back up, suffering back to back to losses. Later on, after years, he got a money fight with YouTuber turned-boxer Jake Paul. While the fandom was anticipating a brutal beatdown from the former UFC champ, the young boxer put his fuse out with a devastating KO, nailing the final one in his career.
