Just two days before UFC 228 rolls into Dallas, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is ready for the challenge of Darren Till. In an interview with MMA Fighting, the champ was asked about how he is preparing for a more well-rounded fighter in Till as opposed to striking specialists like Stephen Thompson or grappling-heavy fighters like Demian Maia.
In Woodley’s mind though, Till is a striking specialist ala Wonderboy, and there’s only one way the English fighter can win the fight and take his title - by knocking him out:
“He’s still a specialist. He still has one way to win a fight. He can only win by knocking me out. He’s not going to beat me in five rounds, he’s not going to outpoint me, he’s not going to out-wrestle me, grapple me. He’s not going to throw punch-for-punch with me and win (with) a one-punch KO or any of that. He has to knock me out to win. So he’s still a specialist.”
I’m a little confused by the “one-punch KO” part, because - well, that’s a knockout. But overall, Woodley believes that his well-rounded skills will overcome the striking-heavy approach of Till.
Check out the whole interview, where Woodley discusses the significance of fighting in Dallas, the place where he beat Carlos Condit, how he feels about Kamaru Usman being the backup plan, and more.
UFC 228 goes down this Saturday night in the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Woodley and Till will headline, with a women’s flyweight title fight between Nicco Montano and Valentina Shevchenko serving as the co-main.
