UFC 205’s co-main event marked only the third time a title fight was declared a draw in UFC history, and it looks like a rematch is on its way.
UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley defended his belt for the first time against Stephen Thompson, and the bout didn’t go quite as planned for either fighter. Woodley retained the title, as the judges scored the bout a draw, but didn’t actually pick up a victory.
The 170-pound division is filled with contenders, but UFC president Dana White said after the fight that he believes Woodley vs. Thompson II is the fight to make.
“I think you rematch them,” White said at the UFC 205 post-fight press conference. “It was a draw, and the fight was ridiculous. It was the Fight of the Night. You do it again.”
Demian Maia has been on a tear in the division as of late, so a rematch would of course put the Brazilian in an unfortunate, odd position, considering the fact that Maia absolutely already deserves a title shot. He’d either have to sit on the sidelines for longer than likely desired or take another fight.
White doesn’t seem too concerned about possibly holding up the division by booking the Woodley vs. “Wonderboy” rematch.
“Demian Maia’s right there,” White said. “He’ll get the next shot if he wants to fight somebody else. I don’t know. Again, it’s the night of the fight. I hate to make fights the night of the fight; I don’t do it. But that one makes sense. I think it makes sense.”
“Wonderboy,” as expected, was more than down for the rematch.
“I think the fans and everybody were really excited, I think they were entertained,” Thompson said at the post-fight press conference. “So definitely want to do that again.”
Woodley didn’t seem as open to the idea. Instead, he brought up Conor McGregor, who won the lightweight championship in the evening’s main event.
“I’m gonna talk to my management team and we’re gonna see what’s next for me,” the champ said at the post-fight press conference. “I don’t know if Mr. McGregor wanna go for a third belt; it looks like he was talking a little noise in the back. So we’ll see what happens.”
UFC 205 took place live from Madison Square Garden in New York City on Saturday, Nov. 12. In the main event, McGregor became the first fighter to hold two belts simultaneously in UFC history with a knockout of Eddie Alvarez.
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