Tyron Woodley's UFC welterweight title defence against Damien Maia at UFC 214 will go down as one of the least entertaining fights ever seen in the organisation.
A new record for the least amount of strikes ever thrown in a five-round fight was set, and the crowd made it very clear how they felt about what they were seeing throughout, before resoundingly booing Woodley during his post-fight speech.
From Woodley's perspective, he successfully defended the threat of the most dangerous jiu-jitsu practitioner in the UFC and showcased his outstanding takedown defence, but it made for an absolute snore-fest, and nobody hates boring fights more than UFC president Dana White.
Speaking to the media after the event, White confirmed that the bout was so poor that he scrapped his plans of having GSP fight the winner on his return, and instead awarded it to Michael Bisping because he knows the Englishman will come to fight. He also claimed that nobody wants to watch Tyron Woodley fight anymore.
I believe Woodley could have finished that in the first round, if not he definitely could have finished it in the second.
If you had a remote control for that guy, he's a freak of nature, he'd be an incredible fighter. It's easy to say a win is a win, but when you get booed out of an arena, it means people don't want to watch you fight.
You ask fans if they want to see Woodley fight again, I think that would be a flat-out 'no'.
Who wants to pay to see Tyron Woodley fight again? It's just...
He is an absolute physical specimen, the guy could have finished that fight at any time he wanted to, you know? He didn't want to take the risks.
You take no risks you get no rewards.
Woodley executed his gameplan to perfection and nullified Maia, but White was very upset at how the lack of a spectacle took the momentum out of what was an absolutely fantastic event in UFC 214.
It's cost the welterweight champ what would have been a lucrative fight in GSP, and will have done absolutely nothing for the prospects of high profile fights with Nick Diaz and Conor McGregor, which Woodley has expressed an interest in over the past year.
With White's stance on Demetrious Johnson in the past, and now this, it's very clear that holding a belt does not guarantee you a place in the good books if you're not pulling in the numbers or entertaining the fans.
