Will Tyron Woodley's MMA Experience Help Him in His Boxing Match Against Jake Paul?
Published June 1 2021, 2:34 p.m. ET
Styles make fights, and that seems to be even more true in mixed martial arts than any other combat sport, because there are so many different disciplines involved. And while there are certain trends that seem to come and go with fighters, one constant remains: an ability to wrestle both offensively and defensively, along with an explosive stand-up game, usually carries folks into victory.
Tyron Woodley helped use those exact skills to secure some memorable knockouts in his MMA career.
Will Tyron Woodley's MMA knockouts help him in a boxing match against Jake Paul?
It's official: Jake Paul has managed to make some serious money in combat sports. The YouTuber has gone all in in his boxing training and has hand-selected opponents where his can showcase his punching prowess: Jake always has a height, weight, and reach advantage against the competition, but will that help him against Tyron Woodley?
Tyron certainly looks like an intimidating individual, with an action-figure physique that was helped carved from years of competitive wrestling. He was a NCAA Division 1 wrestler for the Missouri Tigers and a two-time All American and Big 12 Conference champion. His mat credentials are undeniable, but the big question mark is whether or not he could successfully combine his striking to transition into a serious mixed martial arts career.
His first KO/TKO victory was in a local MMA promotion where he won via submission due to strikes. His opponent literally tapped out of the fight because of the punches Tyron was raining down upon him. His next four victories were all by way of submission, and he'd have a more definitive knockout against Andre Galvao under the Strikeforce banner where he was gaining momentum.
He'd then go on to win three decisions, and challenge for the Strikeforce Welterweight (170 lb) title against Nate Marquardt, who fought at 185 lbs for most of his career in the UFC. While many thought that Tyron would certainly be able to best Nate, MMA faithfuls who'd seen Nate's fights know how much of a savage "The Great" could be on any given night — it just depended on which version of Nate showed up on that night.
Unfortunately for Tyron, it was a version of Nate with zero quit in him (head to 20:15 below).
Nate scored a late-fight knockout of Tyron that contained one of the most brutal, head-snapping combinations MMA fans had ever seen. It was the first loss of Tyron's career, and the last bout Tyron had under the Strikeforce banner.
So when he debuted in the UFC, fans were interested in seeing how he'd bounce back from such a devastating loss. To say he made a splash in the Octagon would be an understatement.
Tyron knocked out cage-fighting veteran Jay Hieron. He lost a boring decision to Jake Shields (which is Jake's M.O.) but then went to knock out Josh Koscheck and leg-kick TKO UFC former interim champion Carlos Condit. Tyron suffered another setback with Rory MacDonald with a decision loss. He then TKO'd Dong Hyun Kim and won a narrow decision against Kelvin Gastelum (who's still a big-time threat in the UFC).
This win earned Tyron a title shot against the ridiculously durable and downright scary Robbie Lawler, who looked like a Terminator in his bout against Rory MacDonald, which many argue is the greatest mixed martial arts contest of all time.
Which is why it came as such a surprise when Tyron was able to knock him out in such a vicious fashion. It would be the last knockout of Tyron's career.
He'd go on to defend his title four times, but a controversial draw against Stephen Thompson and a measured decision victory against the welterweight contender had folks thinking Tyron may be just "coasting" again. A brabo choke submission against Darren Till erased that doubt, and many favored Tyron to topple Kamaru Usman. But that wasn't the case. The Nigerian Nightmare would go on to dominate Tyron, and Tyron's career hasn't looked the same since.
Tyron Woodley doesn't have an official boxing record. But what is Tyron's fighting style?
Although Tyron has shown some striking acumen in the past, he isn't exactly known for his prowess in the sweet science. He keeps a wide stance and threatens with takedowns and leg kicks and throws wide looping power punches. Some say that Tyron's looked like a shell of his former self, so many believe that the younger, heavier Jake Paul, with a 4-inch height and 2-inch reach advantage, will get the better of Tyron, especially since mixed martial arts is an entirely different animal than boxing.
What do you think?
