Tyron Woodley Believes His UFC 171 Performance Was Good Enough To Get A Title Shot

Although it may have been a rather anticlimactic ending, surging UFC welterweight Tyron Woodley picked up the biggest win of his career when he was awarded a TKO victory over Carlos Condit after “The Natural Born Killer” suffered a serious knee injury in the second round of their co-main event bout at last night’s UFC 171.

Woodley appeared to be dominating the fight with his lauded NCAA All-American wrestling skills, repeatedly taking Condit to the mat while blasting him with huge right hands. After a massive campaign to Dana White for the Condit fight, Woodley capitalized, albeit amidst unfortunate circumstances.

Speaking at the UFC 171 post-fight press conference, he believes the win was big enough to lock up a coveted UFC welterweight title shot:

“I hit him very hard, he felt it. I knew he wasn’t going to go right away so I was just being patient and looking for the perfect opportunity to try to take him off. I was going to do that for three rounds straight and really test the chin of someone that everybody thinks couldn’t get knocked out. For me, it was a good performance, and I feel like it was good enough to get a title shot.”

It was undoubtedly a great win, but the fact that Condit fell due to injury will mar the performance. Condit is notorious for picking up his pace as the fight goes on, and he was definitely not out of the bout even if he was losing. He reportedly suffered a torn meniscus and possibly a torn ACL.

As for Woodley’s title shot, it may be one or two more high quality wins away. The UFC welterweight arena is one of the most talented and wide-open divisions in all of MMA.

With Nick Diaz, Rory MacDonald, Woodley, Hector Lombard, and Robbie Lawler all in a logjam near the top, newly minted champion Johny Hendricks is going to have his hands full.

Does Woodley truly deserve a championship opportunity?

Photo: Gary Vasquez for USA TODAY Sports