UFC President Dana White was in attendance at the event and he believes Woodley looked “less than flat” in the Octagon.
“Woodley looked less than flat,” White said at the UFC 235 post-fight press conference (via Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie). “I don’t know. Did he have an excuse to why he looked bad? I didn’t know if Woodley was going to come in here and say he was hurt or something happened. But yeah, he didn’t look like Woodley tonight. He looked flat.”
Usman won the title and the fight by unanimous decision, with Woodley winning no rounds during the encounter.
White also admits that Usman completed dominated Woodley throughout the five round encounter.
“He completely got outwrestled all night,” White said. “The reason I wanted this fight and thought it would be a great fight is because I believed Usman would go after him. Normally Woodley is so fast with his hands and he’s such a good wrestler that most guys can’t do both with him. Usman could do both. Usman could wrestle with him, but I didn’t expect Usman to go in and absolutely dominant him the entire time wherever he wants to go. No, I didn’t see that coming.”
Woodley has requested a rematch against Usman, but nothing has been made official at this time.
