For many fans, Tyron Woodley’s dominant welterweight title defense against Demian Maia represented a black mark on an otherwise stellar UFC 214 main card. The encounter was largely spent with both men circling each other, in a fight that resulted in the least strikes ever landed in a 25-minute UFC welterweight title fight. The previous record was established just four months prior, during Woodley’s anticlimactic rematch with Stephen Thompson.
While detractors – such as UFC president Dana White – publicly slammed the contest, defenders pointed to Woodley’s incredible defensive wrestling, and the relatively lopsided outcome, to justify the champion’s performance.