Dan Ige believes the ref “saved” Sean Woodson’s career with stoppage at UFC 314

Dan Ige knew he had to go out and perform against Sean Woodson at UFC 314, and that’s what he did.

Ige was coming off back-to-back losses, and in the lead-up to the fight, he tuned out all the noise and just focused on his camp. The Hawaiian said he was going to let his fighting do all the talking as he knew this fight was crucial for his career.

“I kind of shut out on anyone. I don’t feel the need to talk to anyone,” Ige said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “Especially coming off a loss. I have to do my talking in the Octagon. That was the mindset, put my head down and work, the media will always be there, a lot of people want to talk, but people don’t want to put in the work, so for me it was putting in the work and it paid off.”

Entering UFC 314, Dan Ige was the underdog against Sean Woodson, and he knew it would be a tough fight. Ige knew dealing with Woodson’s range would be hard to do and could frustrate him.

However, the plan was for Ige to attack the legs and body early and not worry about the head, which is what he did.

“He was difficult, but I did my homework. I prepared well, and I had a ton of good looks,” Ige added. “I told myself if I get frustrated, don’t worry, you will find him, just stick to the plan. Eventually, I’d find my range, but he was a tricky puzzle. But, it feels good to get a win over him.”

Dan Ige saw no issue with the UFC 314 stoppage

In the fight, Dan Ige did a good job of attacking Sean Woodson’s body and legs and being able to get inside. The Hawaiian felt like he was landing the more damaging shots, so he felt like he was winning the fight.

“I felt pretty confident going into the corner after each round. I knew I was landing the bigger, harder shots and was doing more damage. He was landing more volume, but it wasn’t effective; they were just touching me,” Ige said. “He has some nice leg kicks, but as far as damage, ring generalship, and pressure and footwork, I felt confident going into round two and into round three.”

Despite Dan Ige thinking he was ahead, he still wanted to get the finish in the third round. After landing a big shot, he swarmed Woodson and kept on landing punches before the ref stopped it.

However, the commentators and many fans were upset with the stoppage, but Ige felt in the moment that Woodson was done. He also believes the ref helped add some years onto Woodson’s career by not taking any necessary damage.

“The ref saved his career, put some years on the longevity of his career. In the moment, I saw no controversy; the crowd erupted, and no one was booing. When you go online, that’s when I saw all the controversy, but a big part of that is the commentary. All it takes is one person’s comment, someone like ‘DC’ or Rogan, to say it’s the worst stoppage they’ve seen, but they weren’t in there. If anything, it just robbed me of a bigger and greater finish. But, at the end of the day, I got the win and I go the finish and I’m happy with my performance,” Ige concluded.

With the win, Dan Ige is now 19-9 as a pro and ranked 14th at featherweight.