UFC 235 Afterthoughts: Usman shocks Woodley as Jones continues dominance in the light heavyweight division
As the night drew to an end this past Saturday night, UFC 235 lived up to its hype. A stacked card with the co-main event and main event proved to us viewers that anything is possible.
Tyron Woodley vs Kamaru Usman
Starting with the Woodley vs Usman welterweight clash, Kamaru Usman was looking to be the first African UFC Champion. Hailing from Nigeria, Usman has previously spoken about his hard life living in poverty. The bookies however all but dismissed Usman's chances against one of the all-time greats in Tyron Woodley. Woodley came in as a -175 favorite pre-fight, whereas Usman came in at +145.
I personally thought Woodley would make easy work of Usman. Prior to this fight, Woodley had only ever been taken down once, back in 2014 against Rory MacDonald. Moving on from takedowns, Woodley has a much higher percentage of KO wins via strikes as compared to Usman.
I definitely did not expect Usman to even last the distance despite his 9-fight winning streak coming into this one. Woodley is a great fighter and has some great wins on his resume including the likes of Till, Lawler, and Gastelum.
Usman showed great heart, determination, and skill in dominating Woodley for most of the five rounds. Woodley was outwrestled, out-striked and was lucky to make it out of the fourth round following a vicious combination of punches that almost had Woodley out on his feet.
Usman got a takedown early and really put it on Woodley. Usman was coming forward most of the fight and Woodley had no answers for this. The only success Woodley had was two attempts of a choke hold but Usman managed to get out of both. Perhaps Woodley overlooked Usman but I commemorate Usman for his victory. His humble post-fight interview showed his character and he has definitely earned my respect.
Jon Jones vs Anthony Smith
Jon Jones also won via a points decision against the brave but limited Anthony Smith. Jones was a huge favorite in this match. I predicted a KO win for Jones and was surprised Smith made it to the end. Jones showcased his skills in striking with his spinning back kicks and punches to take apart Smith round by round.
Credit to Smith for continuing after an accidental but still illegal knee to Smith's head whilst Smith was kneeling with one hand to the ground. Smith could have got Jones disqualified here but he showed his warrior's heart.
Did you pick Usman to beat Woodley or perhaps even Smith to beat Jones? Let me know your thoughts in the comments down below!