Woodley stages comeback to beat Buckley in wrestling match, then offers to coach him to UFC gold

Tyron Woodley rallied from an 8-0 first-period deficit to defeat Joaquin Buckley 14-8 in a wrestling match at RAF 12 at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, before extending an unexpected offer: he wants to help Buckley win a UFC title.

Buckley entered the contest visibly larger than Woodley, having missed the agreed weight by seven pounds, and used his size advantage to build an early lead. Woodley, however, clawed back and ultimately won comfortably, describing the comeback as a significant confidence boost.

“The first time I was behind, I staged a comeback and won the fight,” Woodley told MMA Fighting. “For me, it was big, big motivation and confidence boost for my career. Cause that’s never happened before… It’s a win over a hungry welterweight, somebody that I think has what it takes to be a UFC champion. And I offered him, I said, ‘I can help you get there, brother.’”

Woodley drew on the memory of his late coach Duke Roufus in explaining his offer. Roufus, he recalled, described himself not as a striking coach but as a “winning coach” — someone who took a fighter’s existing attributes and made the craft more efficient. Woodley believes he can provide the same service for Buckley.

“Duke Roufus, bless his soul, was like, ‘I’m not your striking coach; I’m your winning coach,’” Woodley said. “He took my tools and my attributes and he showed me how to make fighting a little bit easier. I know I can do that for Joaquin. If he really wants to take me up on that. And I feel like he has what it takes to be a UFC champ.”

The offer comes at a difficult moment for Buckley, who rode a six-fight winning streak through 2024 before suffering back-to-back losses against Kamaru Usman and Sean Brady. Woodley, by contrast, knows the territory well — he defended the UFC welterweight title four times before losing it to Usman in 2019, then departed the promotion in 2021 following a four-fight losing run.

Woodley never formally announced his retirement from MMA and has since competed in boxing before making his RAF debut. His next wrestling appearance is already booked: he is scheduled to face Khamzat Chimaev at RAF Moscow on 5 September.