Tyron Woodley’s monstrous weight cuts, cardio, power and strength differentials:
Woodley is an excellent athlete who cuts a truckload of weight to make the 170-pound limit, but kudos to him for being able to safely replenish and regain most of that weight before stepping into the cage on fight night.
One of the main factors that enable him to cut such a humongous amount of weight is the amount of lean muscle mass Woodley carries which, co incidentally, is also the very factor that has been known to deplete his gas tank, causing him cardio issues in several marquee matchups throughout his career.
However, the extra weight and lean muscle mass whilst depleting his stamina, serves to provide T-Wood with his trademark explosiveness and widely-feared one-punch KO power. In fact, Thompson has, self-admittedly, been packing on the pounds and adding lean muscle mass to his frame, in order to combat the champ’s explosiveness and blitzes.
Woodley’s muscle mass is a double-edged sword, with the extra muscle granting him that extra zing in the power department on one hand and depleting his cardio on the other. On the contrary, when you look at Thompson, the sheer number of rounds that the karateka has put in, at the gym as well as in professional kickboxing and MMA bouts, make him a cardio machine.
The 209 bout gets all the more interesting since Wonderboy seems to be coming in heavier than their first meeting.
Sensei Tiger Says: The Power and Strength edge goes to Woodley and the Cardio edge goes to Wonderboy.
