Woodley is Legit

We saw him defeat a solid, well rounded fighter in Tarec Saffiedine. Woodley used a great gameplan to avoid Saffiedine's striking and get him to the ground. Saffiedine is probably the worst matchup in all of Strikeforce for Woodley, to be honest. He is a great striker with great takedown defense (possibly the best in the division at strikeforce) and good submissions. With the somewhat recent release of Jay Hieron, Woodley is without a doubt the best wrestler in Strikeforce. Ahead Woodley has Diaz, Noons (presuming he doesn't go back to LW), Daley, Cyborg and Zaromskis. All strikers with little to no wrestling. Woodley can and will destroy them all. There is no stopping this kid, he get's better every time. By 2012, Woodley will be in the UFC, or Strikeforce champ.

Daley can't wrestle. Diaz can't wrestle. Noons can't wrestle. Cyborg and Zaromskis can't wrestle. Woodley can. He will put them all on their backs, and keep them there. I'm excited to see where Woodley goes from here. Thoughts?

 

 

 

j

I agree with you about a few things. First of all, he did lnp Saffiedine. That sucked, but he acknowledged that, and I think that's not what he wants to do. 

Also, most people see him as an underdog to Diaz, I don't, I think he'd control him, but that's just me.

Sub defense wise, maybe he isn't as good as Diego, but he is very good at jiu-jitsu. Just look how fluent he is on the ground. He mixes wrestling and jiu-jitsu very well (like Ben Askren, for example), and I think his jiu-jitsu is good enough to avoid getting submitted, even at this point in his career. That said, it doesn't matter too much as SF's only BJJ threat left with Diaz gone is Andre Galvao, whom T-Wood decimated. 

So yeah, I think you are mostly correct here but I do think he would've beat Diaz.

I haven't seen him fight since he, or I should say the judges robbed Nathan Coy of his well earned victory in one of the worst decisions I've ever seen.

@geez, I remember thinking Woodley won that fight, I guess I'll have to rewatch it. 

And if you haven't seen Woodley fight since then, you're missing out, he's a serious prospect. Check out this fight if you haven't seen it, it's short.
http://youtu.be/qivnFyykHZA


Or watch this highlight reel I just found, it's really good. http://youtu.be/PAp3KFXpPPs

* Edited at 06.10.2011, 12:40 AM ET *

I may have exaggerated a wee little bit, but I still thought Coy won that fight.

* Edited at 06.10.2011, 12:56 AM ET *

I also thought Coy won. Woodley has the athleticism and skill set to eventually win the UFC belt, just needs a few more years to polish his skills

Well maybe I'm wrong then, I need to rewatch the fight, after I watch it (probably tomorrow) I'll tell you guys what I thought. 
Do you agree Woodley will be SF's WW champion? If not, who do you see stopping him? Given that Diaz is leaving strikeforce, the only other contenders are Noons (probably going to stick at lightweight), Saffiedine (Woodley already beat him), Cyborg, Voelker (unlikely) and Daley.

I agree that Saffiedine was probably his hardest test since he is well rounded. Cyborg and Daley could KO him but I think Woodley would take them down and submit them fairly easily

If Daley fights Woodley, I predict Daley spending an embarrassing 3 rounds on his back, then throwing a sucker punch at Woodley out of  frustration after the fight ends. Oh...wait a minute.....

@live2wrestle, I agree

@geez, somehow that sounds familiar...

Then he could be booted by Zuffa a 2nd time for the same offense.

We will see if he fights Daley.

I bet dana would want woodley to defeat daley.

I agree,i think Woodley will be SF champ pretty soon! wow looking at it,there really arent any wrestlers for him to compete with.haha

ive heard a lot of talk that Diaz didnt want to fight Woodley(since he was probably the next challenger) because Woodley is a wrestler and his name isnt big enough to risk losing to. So he came used the boxing match as a ploy to get Zuffa to give him a shot at GSP, who is also a wrestler but losing to GSP isnt a terrible thing.

@heroak, I believe there is a lot of truth to that statement. I am not trying to boast some sort of insider info or nything like that, it's more just luck, but I'm kind of semi-acquainted with this guy who's really good friends with Woodley (just to give you an idea, he isn't a fighter or coach or anything, but he often corners Woodley), and he told me that before the buyout they SF was trying to set Woodley up with a title shot, but I think Diaz was being tough to work with (don't quote me on that part), then after Zuffa bought SF, he did his whole boxing campaign to get a fight with GSP. I think Woodley was kind of screwed out of a title shot.

Also, Cyborg is fighting Daley at the Hendo/Fedor event, probably for the vacant belt, which is ********.

I think the only real option to fill the vacant spot is to have a welterweight tourney with Daley, Cyborg, Woodley, James Terry, Tarec Saffiedine, Scott Smith, KJ Noons, Bobby Voelker. 

That would be pretty awesome.

Bump for a future champion