Tim Sylva vs. Andrei Arlovski 3. Ken Shamrock vs. Dan Severn 2. Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia.
Those fights, all-time stinkers, were not the fights the UFC 209 rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson were supposed to conjure. Not after Woodley and Thompson fought to a memorable draw which took Fight of the Night honors the first time out on the historic UFC 205 card.
And yet this is where we stand on Sunday, after Woodley and Thompson engaged in a staring contest for the better part of 25 minutes at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena, with Woodley spending minutes at a time with his back to the cage and Thompson coming off like a video game character whose buttons kept getting stuck when it was time to strike.