Sean Woodson and Fernando Padilla at UFC Tampa’s ceremonial weigh-in at Amalie Arena, December 13, 2024 Credit: Jay Anderson/Cageside Press
Sean Woodson was paired with Fernando Padilla in one of three bouts on Saturday’s UFC Tampa card at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
Woodson was having a strong 2024 with wins over Charles Jourdan and Alex “Bruce Leeroy” Caceres. Padilla improved his UFC record to 2-1 with a submission victory over Luis Pajuello.
The match started quickly with Shawn hitting a high kick that partially landed. Padilla immediately pushed Shawn up against the cage with an aggressive swinging loop punch. Woodson blocked a lot of hits with his high guard. Padilla lost his footing with his aggression and Woodson jumped on him. Padilla and Woodson traded positions on the ground, but no significant damage was done.
Once the fight returned to the feet, Padilla continued to put relentless pressure on Woodson. Corner him, put nonstop pressure on him, and output. Shawn managed to negate the pressure from the front and surprised his opponent with a solid jab cross in the center of the Octagon. The shot that caused the most damage in the fight up to that point. Midway through the round, Woodson was left slightly open as a result of the constant offensive onslaught and defensive footwork. With about 90 seconds left in the round, Woodson sat his opponent down with a leg kick, prompting cheers from the crowd. Fernando quickly recovered and started walking forward, but was dropped again a few seconds later. Once the fight was back on its feet, Padilla continued with his game plan. He cornered Woodson, threw punches at him, drove him to the face, and continued to tire him out. In the final seconds of the round, Woodson gained space from the fence and landed a looping uppercut cross combo that caused significant damage to Padilla. Woodson defeated his retreating opponent with two follow-up cards. Shawn swarms with follow-up strikes and knocks his opponent off the canvas before the referee steps in and stops the match.
After the result, Woodson took to the microphone for a post-match interview. “He overpowers guys,” the St. Louis native said of his opponent, “I wasn’t going to let him get through me.” Sean capped off his big win with a grand statement: “Ranking me and running 50 points. That guy is a deadly finisher and I finished him off.” With this win, Sean caps off a great 2024 with a 3-0 record on the calendar year.
Official result: Sean Woodson def. Fernando Padilla, round 1, 4:58, TKO victory
