Tyron Woodley is set to make the first defense of his welterweight championship against Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson at UFC 205 which takes place in New York.
Woodley himself announced the bout during the UFC Hidalgo weigh in show.
Woodley (16-3 MMA, 6-2 UFC) went 1-1 in his first two UFC bouts with a KO victory over Jay Hieron and a split decision loss to Jake Shields. “The Chosen One” then picked up two victories against Josh Koscheck and Carlos Condit before coming up against Rory MacDonald at UFC 174. Woodley lost the bout via unanimous decision. Rebounding from the loss, Woodley stopped Dong Hyun Kim in just 61-seconds at UFC Macau. Woodley then faced Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 183 and won via split decision. After sitting out for over a year and constantly campaigning for a title shot, Woodley was given what he wanted and faced then champion Robbie Lawler at UFC 201. Woodley came into the bout as an underdog but stopped Lawler just over two minutes into the first round to capture the welterweight title.
Thompson (13-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) came into the UFC with a lot of hype, and barring a decision loss to Matt Brown, has been untouchable thus far. “Wonderboy” debuted with a first round head kick knockout over Dan Stittgen before losing to Brown. Since the loss, Thompson has won seven straight. A decision victory over Nah-Shon Burrell came at UFC 160 before two TKO victories over Chris Clements and Robert Whittaker respectively. Thompson then faced Patrick Cote and walked away with a decision victory. At The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale, Thompson faced Jake Ellenberger, and picked up a first round knockout with a spinning back kick to the head. Thompson made a statement in his fight with Johny Hendricks, by becoming the first man to stop the former welterweight champion at just 3:31 of the first round. In his most recent outing, Thompson defeated Rory MacDonald via decision.
UFC 205 takes place live from Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov.12. This fight is the first championship match-up that has been announced for the card.
