The Curious Case of Tyron Woodley (Bonus) (Patreon)

Making your pro MMA debut in 2009 definitely makes you a veteran, but there are still veterans in the UFC who've been fighting for much longer than that. Yet, how many of them were former All-American wrestlers? Not many. Wrestling at a high level is what gave Tyron Woodley a quick start in MMA, but it's also what made his prime so short-lived. 

Consider who else made their debut in 2009? Chris Weidman. We detailed the rise and fall of Chris Weidman in Fight Study 12, which was back in January of 2019. Yet way past his prime, he still continues to fight. Weidman won the UFC middleweight title in 2013, beating Anderson Silva in only his fourth year as a pro. Weidman's career skid started two years later.

Similarly, Tyron Woodley fought for his first title in 2012 at Strikeforce in a losing effort. Mind you, this was only after three years in MMA. Four years later, he was the UFC welterweight champion.

Yet at around his 10th year in MMA is when Woodley's performance sharply declined. There are several factors to consider, but most of the attention has been focused on his style. However, if it was only about style, why do elite wrestlers rarely stay competitive past 10 years in MMA? You can bring up Yoel Romero, but he also made his debut in 2009 and hit his ceiling against Robert Whittaker in 2017. Now he's cut from the UFC. For Woodley, his decline is more dramatic because he was champion. If he was in the top 15 or even top 10, it would have been less noticeable. This is what aided Michael Bisping in his championship run. He was fighting in the top 15 and then got a shot at the title, but when he had to consistently fight the top of the division, his decline and vision problems became quickly apparent.

Even wrestlers who stop after college develop knee and hip issues. A lifetime of weight cuts puts a tremendous strain on their bodies, let alone their endocrine system. As middle-aged adults, continuing the intense training and weight cuts is. a. lot.

Why do MMA coaches love wrestlers? Because coaches love athletes who are willing to overtrain and cut weight, especially on short notice. Easy to coach and easy to book in fights. Woodley, for example, fought five times in his first year. He's also detailed all the injuries he sustained early on and all the money he invested in rehabbing.

Positioning Woodley in the correct context and his fall from grace is no longer an anomaly but the norm. Looking back on Woodley's early performances, not only did he wrestle a lot, but his wrestling was dynamic. Did Woodley fall in love with his hands, or did he become reliant on them because he couldn't wrestle like he wanted to? I'd say it was the latter. Wrestling in reverse and defending takedowns is a lot less stressful on the body.

To his credit, Woodley developed his striking, but more than that, he developed a thunderous right punch. Did he fall in love with his right hand, or was it that over time his right hand became his best weapon because other things failed him?

To kick or even chain wrestle, you need healthy knees and hips. Blast doubles, charging right hands, or backward retreats are linear movements that only require the ability to hinge.

Woodley's first big test was against a shopworn Nate Marquardt who could not only strike but defend takedowns and get up from the bottom. Woodley was losing on the exchanges and had difficulty grounding Marquardt, and eventually got knocked out. However, what is interesting is how many kicks, hooks, and various takedowns Woodley showed in the fight. Something you no longer see with Woodley is his spinning backfist, which he often used earlier in his career. My point isn't to say the backfist is a reliable move, but that the Woodley of today can no longer pivot, turn, or do any rotational movements. It wasn't strange to see early Woodley attempt back kicks, a move you no longer associate with him. Think how often you see Woodley even throw a hook?

Why doesn't he use a more educated jab? A jab requires other moves as follow-ups; otherwise, you're just feeding your opponent information. Without the hooks and kicks, it probably made more sense to try and catch his opponents off guard with the right. Why throw volume when you lack variety?

This is also why Yoel Romero doesn't throw volume. On the other hand, Weidman will use volume but without the variety he's predictable. His jabs just become a liability. This is why he gets dropped or hurt so often in his fights. Even in the fights he wins. It's the curse of the high-level wrestler, take damage like Weidman or lose every round like Woodley.

King Mo Lawal started as a pro in 2008 and hit his decline in 2016. He's now retired and very open about the number of surgeries he had even before entering MMA. Kamaru Usman, who debuted in 2015, has said he has almost no cartilage left in his knees. Why is he at a striking-based MMA gym? Because as his wrestling declines, he'll have to rely on his striking more and more.

Justin Gaethje went all-in on his striking. Perhaps he doesn't wrestle because he can't. I don't mean literally, but wrestling could become a liability if done poorly.

Jake Shields was the first opponent to use a pressure game to outstrike Woodley. Shields is no great striker, but it was a sign that Woodley could only move in straight lines. Despite what other analysts might say, Woodley knows how to move laterally. All wrestlers know. You circle a lot in wrestling. Hell, the area you wrestle in is a giant circle. Wrestling involves a lot of footwork. Other analysts ask, why isn't he moving laterally? Well, maybe it's not that he doesn't know how but that he can't. Not very well, at least. What's more footwork training going to do if your body won't comply?

Woodley DID, however, show a stylistic inability to strike and defend takedowns at the same time—especially against a pressure fighter with a competent takedown game.

The powerful leg kicks and spinning backfists were still there, though much less frequent than against Nate Marquardt. Woodley still had rotation, though limited. Speaking of losing rotational ability, Weidman lost his title to Luke Rockhold after a terrible wheel kick attempt. Woodley probably saw in Weidman what happens when you keep trying things your body can no longer do.

Against Rory MacDonald, he fought a fighter like Jake Shields and Nate Marquardt, only younger and better. MacDonald pressured Woodley, beat him up on the feet, got up whenever taken down, and even had Woodley down and mounted.

You still saw some of the variety from Woodley, but it was becoming more of a liability. His last hurrah came when he abandoned what he could no longer do well and specialized on the things he could. With MacDonald leaving the UFC, GSP retired, Nick Diaz on hiatus, and many of the veterans aging out (like Johny Hendricks), this was the perfect opportunity for Woodley to make a title run. Woodley beat Dong Hyun Kim and fought Kelvin Gastelum at catchweight for his welterweight title shot against Robbie Lawler. Not the best resume for a title shot. Keep in mind, Lawler made his pro debut in 2001.

Lawler was a weathered champion who got blitzed by a fresher Woodley in the first round. A smart move by Woodley as Lawler, with his wear and tear, wouldn't be able to keep up with an early onslaught. And if the fight progressed, Lawler could have picked Woodley apart. After his knockout loss to Woodley, Lawler suffered more losses and was only able to beat another weathered veteran in Donald Cerrone—a former lightweight.

Woodley's most masterful gameplan was in his two fights against Stephen Thompson, where he drew Thompson into his counters. Both fights were very close, with the first being a draw and the second being nearly a draw again, a majority decision win for Woodley.

Demian Maia was an easy stylistic matchup for Woodley, much like his fight against Andre Galvao. An inferior striker with inferior takedowns.

Darren Till was dropped by the same counter Woodley used against Thompson, but unlike Thompson, Till couldn't escape the choke attempt to keep fighting. Till also has had a string of losses afterward and has since moved up to middleweight.

Against Kamaru Usman, Woodley was in his 10th year as a pro and was in the same position Josh Koscheck was with Usman playing young Woodley. Koscheck lost six fights in a row before retiring. The 10-year wrestling curse. Did I mention Johny Hendricks also retired from MMA after 10 years?

It wasn't just age for Woodley, but he could no longer avoid his most difficult stylistic matchups. Starting from Marquardt, Woodley always had difficulty against fighters who could strike, pressure, and wrestle. Woodley became champion when the welterweight division was thin and was full of mostly strikers. Now all he has left are younger versions of Nate Marquardt with better wrestling.

In the big picture, Woodley hasn't been training MMA for all that long. Now he's fighting opponents who've not only been training MMA just as long as he has but who are also younger. In the last few years, Woodley has also split his time pursuing his entertainment career.

It's a combination of wear and tear, age, and lack of time to reinvent himself. It probably does make more sense to plan for his post-MMA life because even if he spent all his time trying to improve, he'd continue to lose more abilities than he gains. That doesn't mean he'll stop fighting, but now we know what it'll look like for Kamaru Usman in a few years. Remember, Usman made his pro debut in 2012. That's only three years after Woodley.