Tyron Woodley set to take on Andre Galvao in possible title eliminator
Tyron Woodley and Andre Galvao are set to face off at Strikeforce’s “Diaz vs Noons 2" event, set to take place on 9 October. The news was first reported by sherdog.com, and according to the website, an official
announcement by Strikeforce, the second-largest American mixed martial arts promotion, is forthcoming.
Galvao, a devout Christian, also posted the news on his Twitter page Monday. “My next fight will be in October 9th against Tyron Woodley. I will be ready for one more victory. Jesus is the Lord. Everyone
will see it.”
His fight will quite possibly be a title eliminator bout for the Strikeforce 170lb welterweight title. The main event of the evening sees challenger K.J Noons taking on current champion Nick Diaz, which is
ideal because it means the winner of each bout will have an equal time to recover for the next bout. Also, Strikeforce’s welterweight division is probably its thinnest, and so the winner of Woodley-Galvao would be their most credible challenger.
Woodley is considered to be one of MMA’s best prospects. He is 28 years old and a perfect 6-0. He comes from a strong high school wrestling background and later went on to university wrestling, where he earned
All-American honours and was ranked seventh in the country at the 160lb level. Since then he’s shown a terrific learning curve in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, using the grappling art to achieve four submission victories in his six fights (all by different submissions.)
During his last fight he did show signs of weakness however, in a controversial split decision victory over Nathan Coy last November which had many commentators calling the bout for Coy.
Woodley will need all of his Brazilian Jiu Jitsu prowess against his Brazilian opponent, Galvao. Galvao’s
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
credentials are staggering, with an endless array of gold medals in international competition, including a gold medal in the 88kg category at the World Championships in 2008.
Still, Galvao’s transition to MMA hasn’t been as smooth as some other
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioners.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
competitions feature gis, or clothing to grab on to, whereas MMA does not and he’s shown some trouble implementing his mastery in MMA, most notably getting swept and sometimes out-grappled by Luke Stewart,
whom he beat in his own controversial split decision. Since losing a very close split decision to Jason High in July 2009, he’s won two straight, including his victory over Stewart.
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