\u201cT-Wood\u201d finally got his hand raised.<\/p>\n
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley scored his first combat sports victory in nearly eight years last night (Sat., Aug. 22, 2026), mounting an incredible comeback to defeat Joaquin Buckley at Real American Freestyle (RAF) 12<\/a> inside Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.<\/p>\n Things looked disastrous for Woodley early.<\/p>\n Despite having no high-level wrestling background, Buckley scored two four-point throws in the opening period. Woodley managed one step-out point but entered the second period trailing 8-1 and sitting just two points away from a technical-fall loss.<\/p>\n Then, the former two-time NCAA Division I All-American woke up.<\/p>\n Woodley collected two step-out points before scoring a four-point gut-wrench sequence just before the horn, trimming Buckley\u2019s lead to 8-7. \u201cThe Chosen One\u201d tied the match with another step-out in the final period and then countered Buckley\u2019s last-ditch attack with a four-point takedown. He added two more points before time expired to seal a thrilling 14-8 victory.<\/p>\n Woodley scored 13 unanswered points to complete the comeback.<\/p>\n Check out the highlights below:<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t lose my composure,\u201d Woodley said afterward. \u201cI said, \u2018Tyron, you\u2019re going to win tonight. You\u2019re going to win tonight. You\u2019re going to win tonight.\u2019 And I won!\u201d<\/p>\n The victory was Woodley\u2019s first in any combat sport since he submitted Darren Till at UFC 228 in Sept. 2018. Woodley subsequently lost four consecutive UFC fights \u2014 including his Welterweight title loss to Kamaru Usman \u2014 before dropping three boxing matches against<\/a> Jake Paul (twice) and Anderson Silva.<\/p>\n Woodley will not have much time to celebrate. The 44-year-old returns at RAF Moscow on Sept. 5<\/a>, where he will wrestle former UFC Middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev in the main event.<\/p>\n