UFC 209: Tyron Woodley retains title against Stephen Thompson but not everyone is impressed

Tyron Woodley retained his UFC welterweight title for the second time against Stephen Thompson in an underwhelming fight in Las Vegas.

The pair had gone to a majority draw at UFC 205 last November, producing the fight of the night in New York, but fought in a far more tentative manner for the follow-up, landing just six significant strikes between them in the first round.

However, this time in Las Vegas, an increasingly agitated crowd made clear their unhappiness at the lack of action in the early rounds, as both fighters kept their distance, with Thompson seemingly landing the more significant strikes.

The champion tried to build some pressure on Thompson in the third round with a takedown against the fence which left the 34-year-old 'Wonderboy' pinned down, but Thompson had recovered by the end of the round.

Thompson’s tactical approach left Woodley struggling to connect with the challenger, but he eventually found a way through with less than 30 seconds of the fight to go. He then managed to land a huge flurry of punches that left Thompson hurt.

It proved enough to edge the fight, with two judges scoring the fight 48-47 for Woodley. The third judge scored it a draw between the two fighters.

“I thought I had more of the strikes, but you can’t leave it in the judges hands,” admitted Thompson afterwards.

The card lost one of its main fights at short notice when Khabib Nurmagomedov, who had been scheduled to face Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title, was hospitalised on Friday night.

Nurmagomedov had suffered health issues as he tried to cut weight for the fight.

“The most important thing right now is Khabib’s health,” Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdel-Aziz told MMA Fighting. “We’re not thinking about what’s next at this time.”

Swedish fighter, David Teymur claimed an unanimous victory over lightweight rival, Lando Vannata in what proved to be an explosive fight.

The up-and-coming fighters have both earned reputations for their exciting fights in the past, and stepped up to deliver one of the best bouts of the year.

Vannata landed a cartwheel kick early on while Teymur scored an unanswered superman punch and a combination of knees in a back-and-forth battle, before all three judges scored the fight 30-27 in Teymur’s favour.

“I’ve said this since day one, the day I come to the UFC, I didn’t come just to say hi,” Teymur said after the fight.

“I’m coming for the world title.”

Rashad Evans suffered a defeat in his first fight at middleweight as he returned to action after nearly a year out.

Veteran fighter Daniel Kelly, who competed in judo for Australia at the London 2012 Olympics, won a split decision victory over the former light heavyweight champion after a gruelling bout.

Both men finished the fight swinging wildly, but Kelly’s southpaw approach and judo kept Evans off-balance for the early rounds to score the biggest win of his career so far.

Cynthia Calvillo made a quick start to her UFC career after defeating Amanda Cooper by submission in the first round.

The 29-year-old American who took the fight on with just 10 days notice, secured the win by rear naked choke after three minutes and 19 seconds.

It was a grappling showcase from both women before Calvillo, who turned pro last year, managed to get Cooper’s back and lock on the choke hold for the victory.

“My ultimate goal is to be a world champion, so I just need to work my way up there until I get that shot,” she said afterwards.

Alistair Overeem claimed a knockout victory over New Zealand’s Mark Hunt to put himself back in contention for the heavyweight championship he lost to Stipe Miocic last September.

London-born Overeem, ranked number three heavyweight in the world, landed two hard knees to Hunt’s face during the third round to claim the victory.

The Netherlands-based fighter came back from an early heavy right hand by Hunt in the first round to control the second, before connecting with elbow and knee shots that left Hunt face down on the canvas.

Afterwards Overeem said he had one eye on the forthcoming title fight between Miocic and Junior Dos Santos.

“If JDS would win that fight I could see myself lining up against him as I was his last loss,” he said.

"I think he’d want revenge and I’m very open to that idea.”

There were mixed fortunes for Britain’s other representatives on the card. England’s Mark Godbeer scored an unanimous judges’ decision in a one-sided contest against Daniel Spitz, but Scottish fighter Paul Craig suffered a first round TKO defeat to Tyson Pedro.

“I felt my back was against the wall going in which added to the nerves, but I dug deep,” Godbeer said afterwards on Instagram

You can read the full results from the UFC 209 undercard here, external.