Dana White Scored UFC 209 Headliner in Favor of Stephen Thompson

A fight like the rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson is bound to produce a lot of differing views on how a bout should be scored.

Count UFC President Dana White among those who didn’t necessarily agree with the final outcome at UFC 209. Like many, he was also disappointed with the fight itself, especially after their first bout at UFC 205 yielded so many positive reviews.

“When I was out doing radio for this fight I said, ‘You’ve all seen this first fight; how can the second fight not be good?’ I guess it doesn’t matter what the first fight is like,” White said. “I had it 3-2 the other way. I thought that ‘Wonderboy’ won 3-2. One of the judges scored the last round 10-8, so that obviously throws [it off].”

Ultimately, judges Derek Cleary and Chris Lee submitted 48-47 scorecards in favor of Woodley, while Sal D’Amato saw it as a 47-47 draw. D’Amato scored the fifth round 10-8 for Woodley. Meanwhile, media scorecards were all over the place: Five scored the bout for Woodley, eight scored it a draw and six had Thompson winning, according to MMADecisions.com.

While the contest didn’t draw rave reviews from those in attendance or those watching at home, White actually defended the conservative approach adopted by both main event competitors.

“It’s easy to sit in your seats, drink some beer and eat some popcorn and boo people,” White said. “But they’re not in there fighting Tyron Woodley or ‘Wonderboy.’ A lot was at stake and these guys fought the way they needed to fight to win.”

Still, White acknowledged that Woodley has some work to do if he’s going to live up to the best-ever aspirations he revealed leading up to UFC 209.

“Woodley came out and made some big claims before the fight that we would have a definitive answer on who’s the champion. I like Tyron. He’s talented,” White said. [But] you can’t be upset if people are ‘whatever’ now after that second fight. Come on.”