MMA News

Tag: Sean Woodson

  • Dan Ige Overcomes Opponent’s Huge Height Advantage To Secure Controversial Stoppage At UFC 314

    Dan Ige Overcomes Opponent’s Huge Height Advantage To Secure Controversial Stoppage At UFC 314

    The performance of Dan Ige in the featured prelim bout of UFC 314 cannot be denied, but his stoppage win over Sean Woodson left a bitter taste in the mouths of fans.

    Ige’s striking was on point, pressuring Woodson despite facing a significant disadvantage in height and reach. Though Woodson’s jabs get Ige at bay briefly, Ige turned up the heat in the second round, bringing increased power with his strikes and mixing things up with takedown attempts.

    Ige landed a crisp body shot during the third round that caught Woodson’s attention, hurting him, as Ige delivered a flurry of punches. Woodson looked for a takedown, and Ige rained punches down to his head. The referee intervened to stop the fight, though Woodson was in the midst of standing up — and he immediately protested as the crowd rained down boos.

    Dan Ige Looks Strong In UFC 314 Win But Performance Marred By Controversial Ref Stoppage

    This wasn’t the first controversial referee moment in the night, as Mike Beltran has come under fire for allowing Darren Elkins to take excessive unnecessary damage from Julian Erosa before a stoppage — and the decision to not take a point from Yan Xiaonan despite a fence grab (as much as it didn’t stop a Virna Jandiroba takedown).

    Ige snaps a two-fight losing skid with his victory, coming in off losses to Diego Lopes and Lerone Murphy. Ige’s most recent victory prior to tonight came against Andre Fili in February 2024.

    Woodson sees a seven-fight unbeaten streak (6-0-1) snapped at Ige’s (and the ref’s) hands tonight. Woodson’s victories in this stretch had included wins over Charles Jourdain and Alex Caceres.

  • UFC Tampa Winner Confident Of His Chances Against Ilia Topuria: ‘Carries Himself Like He’s Better Than He Is’

    UFC Tampa Winner Confident Of His Chances Against Ilia Topuria: ‘Carries Himself Like He’s Better Than He Is’

    UFC featherweight Sean Woodson sees himself as a difficult matchup for champion Ilia Topuria.

    Woodson was one of the biggest winners to emerge from this past weekend’s year-ending UFC Fight Night in Tampa, where he stopped the highly touted Fernando Padilla with strikes seconds out from the first round coming to a close.

    The result has left “The Sniper” riding a four-fight win streak and unbeaten across his last seven — a run that has him tied with ranked standouts Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy for the longest active unbeaten streak in the featherweight division.

    With that in mind, Woodson is looking to join them in the top 15 soon enough as he looks to surge all the way to the gold, which is currently held by the undefeated Topuria.

    And should “El Matador” still be on the throne when he gets there, the Missouri native likes his chances.

    During his post-fight press conference, Woodson expressed confidence when it comes to how he matches up against the Spaniard.

    Given his height and frame, “The Sniper” insisted that he wouldn’t fall to the same fate against Topuria as both Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway did this year.

    “(Topuria’s) super good – what he’s done so far is,” Woodson said. “But I’m not going to hold my tongue at all. I don’t feel like he’d be able to do me the way he’s done other people at all. He’s too small, too short. I’m a bad matchup for him. I saw online somebody say he gets up to like 187 (pounds), 190 (outside of camp). I don’t believe that at all. I don’t even get that big. He carries himself like he’s better than he is.

    “I will say that I would love to fight him. I know I’m a long ways off from that, but I want that fight bad. I would love to fight him one day. I know it sounds crazy. I haven’t had the best (résumé). I ain’t fought (big names), whatever,” Woodson continued. “But I’m telling you right now, they do not do me like he’s done everybody.”

    Woodson has plenty of work to do before having the opportunity to prove that assessment correct opposite Topuria inside the Octagon.

    For now, he’ll be celebrating his latest triumph on MMA’s biggest stage and looking ahead to what he’ll no doubt hope will be a big 2025 in the career of “The Sniper.”

  • Sean Woodson Ties Movsar Evloev For Featherweight Record With Quick Knockout At UFC Tampa

    Sean Woodson Ties Movsar Evloev For Featherweight Record With Quick Knockout At UFC Tampa

    Sean Woodson continues to score wins, and this time it came with a bang as he pulled off a major finish of Fernando Padilla during the preliminary card of UFC Tampa.

    Woodson had to outlast an early surge from Padilla, but he fought back to fire off his own flurries during the second half of the first round.

    “The Sniper” then fired off back-to-back powerful one-two combinations to drop the Mexican in the closing seconds of the first round. Woodson needed just a little ground-and-pound before the referee stepped in to wave off the fight.

    This UFC Tampa victory increased Woodson’s run without a defeat to eight straight fights, tying him for longest active unbeaten streak in the UFC’s featherweight division. Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy have the same kind of streak currently.

    The 32-year-old finishes 2024 3-0, defeating Charles Jourdain and Alex Caceres earlier this year.

    Padilla., meanwhile, falls to 2-2 since making his UFC debut in April 2023.