Woodley Ends Eight-Year Win Drought With RAF 12 Comeback

Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley won a combat sports match for the first time in eight years Saturday night, rallying from a seven-point hole to beat Joaquin Buckley 14-8 at Real American Freestyle 12 in Cleveland.

Buckley landed two four-point throws in the opening period despite no elite wrestling pedigree, opening an 8-1 lead and putting Woodley two points from a technical fall. The former NCAA All-American collected two step-outs and a four-point gut wrench before the horn to cut the margin to 8-7, then tied the match with another step-out in the final period. Woodley countered Buckley's late attack with a four-point takedown and added two more points before time expired, per MMA Mania.

Woodley's First Win Since UFC 228

The win snapped a drought that stretched back to September 2018, when Woodley submitted Darren Till at UFC 228. He dropped four straight UFC bouts after that, including his title loss to Kamaru Usman, then fell three times in boxing — twice to Jake Paul and once to Anderson Silva. "I didn't lose my composure," Woodley said afterward. "I said, 'Tyron, you're going to win tonight. You're going to win tonight. You're going to win tonight.' And I won!"

Woodley scored 13 unanswered points to complete the turnaround. The 44-year-old returns Sept. 5 at RAF Moscow, where he is scheduled to face former UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev in the main event.

Reported via:

• MMA Mania — Former UFC champion Tyron Woodley ends eight-year win drought with wild RAF 12 comeback