Burns dominates Woodley at UFC Fight Night

THE ULTIMATE Fighting Championship staged another live event on Sunday (Manila time) that saw Brazilian Gilbert Burns dominating American Tyron “The Chosen One” Woodley in five rounds of their headlining welterweight fight in Las Vegas.

Held at the UFC Apex Facility, “UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Burns” was a continuation of UFC’s efforts to move forward amid concerns over the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

It was the fourth event of the promotion in May after taking some time off because of the highly contagious COVID-19, which has already claimed at least 105,000 lives in the United States alone to date.

Mr. Burns was on top of things right from the opening bell en route to a convincing 50-45, 50-44 and 50-44 unanimous decision victory.

“Durinho,” as Mr. Burns is referred to, was on top of things, nearly finishing former champion Woodley in the opening round after dropping the latter on the mat and punishing him with a flurry of strikes.

Mr. Woodley was able to survive the onslaught but not after absorbing much damage, including having his left eyebrow busted open.

The Brazilian contender continued to pile up the pressure on Mr. Woodley the rest of the way, with a variety of punches and kicks, something the latter had a hard time keeping in step with.

Sensing that he got the fight in the bag, Mr. Burns tried to go for a stoppage finish in the fifth and final round but none would come as Mr. Woodley managed to hold on till the end.

With the win, 33-year-old Burns improved to 19 wins, including winning six straight, as oppose to three losses.

He expressed hope after the fight that the UFC would give a shot at the welterweight title currently held by Kamru Usman of Nigeria.

Mr. Woodley, with the loss, dropped his second straight match and fell to a record of 19-5-1.

Next for the UFC is “UFC 250” on June 6, to be headlined by the title clash between reigning women’s featherweight champion Amanda Nunes against challenger Felicia Spencer. —