UFC 201 results: Tyron Woodley knocks out Robbie Lawler in first round

Robbie Lawler all the way back in 2002 was considered one of the future superstars of the welterweight division. A series of losses sent him out of the UFC and he ended up as a struggling middleweight. Lawler then returned to welterweight and embarked on a winning streak that brought him to the promised land that was long ago predicted for him. Now the UFC welterweight champion, Lawler has been involved in some of the most exciting fights in the sport in recent years. Woodley was a top flight amateur wrestler who utilized his wrestling heavily early in his MMA career. As time progressed, he added dangerous striking to his game and he enters this title fight with an impressive 15-3 record. In contrast to Lawler, who has fought frequently and been in absolute wars, Woodley hasn’t competed since January of 2015.

Round 1. Woodley closes distance. He throws a couple of heavy punches that miss and then clinches. The fighters are separated. Woodley drops Lawler with a vicious right hand. He adds some more in rapid succession on the ground and that’s it.

Winner: Tyron Woodley, KO, round 1.

UFC titles have been changing constantly over the past year and the trend continued tonight. Woodley has dangerous power in his fists and it ended Lawler’s title run. Woodley now faces the same challenge of defending his title in an atmosphere where no champion is safe.

Namajunas is a popular young fighter who has improved greatly since her time on the Ultimate Fighter and is now a top contender. She has won three straight fights including an impressive domination of Paige VanZant. Kowalkiewicz is a Polish star like the strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk and sports an undefeated record. She is 2-0 thus far in the UFC.

Round 1. Kowalkiewicz is moving forward, using footwork and relying on her boxing. Namajunas is content to work from the outside, circling and mixing in kicks with her punches. Namajunas lands a hard straight punch. Kowalkiewicz answers with a body kick. Namajunas is doing a very good job of avoiding Kowalkiewicz’s offense. Kowalkiewicz does land some knees in the clinch and they go to the ground late with Namajunas ending up on top. 10-9 Namajunas.

Round 2. Kowalkiewicz clinches and looks to take advantage of her strength there with knees and elbows. Namajunas looks for a takedown but is stuck in this position that doesn’t benefit her as much as fighting from distance. Namajunas looks to set up an arm triangle choke from the standing position but gives that up and goes for a takedown. She eats a heavy knee and elbow. Namajunas separates and lands a couple solid punches. Namajunas catches Kowalkiewicz off balance with a front kick and follows with a solid punch. Kowalkiewicz lands a couple of right hands over the top. Kowalkiewicz adds a knee to the body from close range. Her clinchwork is making the difference in the fight as the action progresses. 10-9 Kowalkiewicz.

Round 3. The third round settles into the same trend from the first two, with Namajunas having success with punches from range but Kowalkiewicz continually moving in and attacking from the clinch, particularly with knees. Namajunas lands a nice two punch combination but has a takedown attempt stuffed. Namajunas lands some hard knees to the body and a stiff uppercut. Namajunas goes down and Kowalkiewicz takes top position. She lands some punches from there while avoiding Namajunas’ attempts to set up submissions. Kowalkiewicz continues landing shots until finally Namajunas gets up at the end. 10-9 Kowalkiewicz, 29-28 Kowalkiewicz.

Winner: Karolina Kowalkiewicz, split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).

That win sets up a likely all Polish showdown for the women’s strawweight title, a unique matchup given there haven’t been a lot of top flight Polish MMA fighters over the years.

Matt Brown is something of a cult figure within the sport, a rugged slugger renowned for his toughness. At one point he was 12-11, because of his sub-par ground game. When he improved that ground game, he took his career to a higher level including becoming the only fighter to hand Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson an MMA loss. He has been fighting the elite of the division in recent years. He has lost three of his last four, but that’s against welterweight champion Robbie Lawler, former welterweight champion Johny Hendricks and former middleweight title challenger Demian Maia. Jake Ellenberger was once a top welterweight but he has looked like a shell of his former self for years now, dropping five of his last six is unimpressive fashion.

Round 1. Ellenberger drops Brown with a heavy right hand and has Brown in huge trouble. Ellenberger opens up with rapid fire punches on the ground, looking to finish the fight. Brown hangs on and gets back up. Ellenberger lands two more hard right hands on the feet. Brown survives those and moves forward looking to land a big shot of his own. Ellenberger drops Brown with a kick to the body that freezes Brown up. Ellenberger adds more punches on the ground and the fight is stopped.

Winner: Jake Ellenberger, TKO, round 1.

That’s a crucial victory for Ellenberger, who has struggled so mightily in recent years but defeated a very tough opponent with an exclamation point there.

Erik Perez is a young Mexican fighter the UFC has tried to market as it targets the Mexican fight fan audience. He has been successful overall, winning five of his seven UFC bouts. Francisco Rivera is a gritty brawler whose strength is his standup. He has lost four of five, albeit against stiff competition.

Round 1. Rivera moves in with a two punch combination early. The fighters exchange leg kicks. Perez catches a kick but isn’t able to capitalize on that for a takedown or major blow. Perez goes for a takedown. Rivera lands on the ground but pops back up practically instantaneously. Close round. 10-9 Rivera.

Round 2. The fighters continue to utilize kicks to a large degree. There’s a lot of movement and energy but neither fighter is throwing a large amount of blows, perhaps concerned about getting countered. Perez goes for a takedown but it is blocked and Rivera throws a wild haymaker that narrowly misses Perez. Rivera lands a few nice straight punches. Perez gets a takedown at the end of the round. Another close round. 10-9 Perez.

Round 3. Perez goes for a knee but misses and Rivera lands some big punches. They just start swinging wildly at each other.in a remarkable sequence. Both men land some big punches. Rivera grows so tired from flailing his arms that he falls down in exhaustion. Perez then follows him to the ground and takes top position. Perez works Rivera over on the ground because Rivera seems to have no energy left. Rivera finally gets up late and eats a few punches as the round concludes. 10-9 Perez, 29-28 Perez.

Winner: Erik Perez, unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-28).

The UFC 201 pay-per-view portion kicks off with a flyweight fight between Ryan Benoit and Fredy Serrano. Benoit is a rarity in the flyweight division, having finished his opponent in all eight of his wins. Serrano has a wrestling background and a 3-0 professional MMA record.

Round 1. The fighters exchange low kicks early. Serrano utilizes his wrestling and slams Benoit down with an emphatic takedown. he ends up in Benoit’s half guard. Benoit quickly works his way back up to his feet. Benoit catches Serrano with a hard punch that has Serrano in trouble. Serrano moves in and Benoit grabs a guillotine choke. Serrano slams him back down to the mat in side control, negating the threat of the choke. Benoit then pops back up to his feet. The action is a little slow back on the feet before Serrano shoots in for a takedown from long distance. Benoit defends easily. Benoit is pushing forward and lands a hard body kick and hook late. Benoit throws a shot after the bell and Serrano angrily shoves him back. 10-9 Benoit. Serrano had the impressive takedowns but Benoit landed the better blows.

Round 2. Serrano moves in for a takedown. Benoit grabs his neck like in the first round, looking for a guillotine choke. Serrano gives up the takedown attempt and they separate. Serrano throws an ax kick and then slams Benoit down emphatically for the third time. Benoit gets up again quickly. Benoit blocks another takedown attempt. Benoit looks a little tired and Serrano is pushing the action on the feet a little more. Serrano gets another takedown and is in side control. Serrano uses some hip attacks to the head on the ground and lands some punches on the ground. Benoit gets up to close the round. 10-9 Serrano.

Round 3. Serrano gets a takedown early in the third. There isn’t a lot of action and the referee stands it up. Serrano goes in for another low takedown and this time Benoit blocks it and takes top position. Serrano this time stands up quickly. Serrano does a forward roll looking for a takedown but doesn’t come close. Serrano lands a punch and goes for a takedown but does not get it. Benoit goes for a knee and Serrano ducks under it. Benoit lands a kick and blocks another takedown attempt. Benoit lands a couple solid leg kicks and clinches. Benoit connects with a crisp hook late. 10-9 Benoit, 29-28 Benoit.

Winner: Ryan Benoit, split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28).

Nikita Krylov started his UFC career on a rough note, losing a sluggish bout against Soa Palelei and getting submitted in 90 seconds to a Von Flue choke against Ovince St. Preux. Since then, Krylov has turned things around. He finished his next four fights within two rounds and he scored his fifth straight win inside two at UFC 201 with a brutal head kick knockout of Ed Herman.

Krylov got the better of Herman with his striking for the vast majority of the first round. In the second, he scored the finish emphatically with a left high kick that Herman did not see coming. Herman went out cold and the fight was stopped on the spot. In a thin light heavyweight division, the 24-year-old Krylov could make waves if he continues to fight the way he did tonight.

Jorge Masvidal has had some bad luck with the judges of late, losing three of his last four fights via split decision. At UFC 201, Masvidal got some good news, as judges declared him the winner against Ross Pearson, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27.

Given Masvidal’s history with the judges, he wasn’t eager for his fight to be left up to the scorecards. In the second round, Masvidal hurt Pearson badly and swarmed on him with reckless abandon. Pearson was barely able to survive the barrage, but it led to Masvidal getting the well-deserved nod on points.

It has been an up-and-down UFC tenure for Anthony Hamilton, who has alternated wins and losses over the course of his UFC career. Saturday night, Hamilton reached his biggest high to date, by finding Damien Grabowski’s chin early and securing a knockout victory just 14 seconds into the first round.

Wilson Reis was originally supposed to challenge for the UFC flyweight title at UFC 201. When champion Demetrious Johnson pulled out of the card because of an injury, Reis was left with a preliminary bout against UFC newcomer Hector Sandoval. Reis made the most of the opportunity, scoring the fastest submission in UFC flyweight history at 1:49 of the first round.

Sandoval looked dangerous early on, landing some significant shots on the feet against Reis. Reis fell back on his jiu jitsu background, taking Sandoval down to the ground and locking in a rear naked choke for the submission.

In a bout that proved to be unsatisfying for both fighters as well as the crowd, Michael Graves and Bojan Velickovic fought to a majority draw at UFC 201. The second round was the most decisive of the fight, with Graves getting the better of the action on the ground. But the other two rounds were close and the judges ruled the bout a draw, 30-27, 28-28, 28-28.

Australian lightweight Damien Brown picked up his first UFC victory in the opener of Saturday night’s UFC 201 event from Atlanta. Brown rocked Cesar Arzamendia repeatedly with strikes, culminating in a spectacular first-round knockout at 2:27. The impressive victory is likely to earn Brown a few more UFC fights, while Arzamendia could find himself back on smaller shows after being knocked out in the first round in each of his first two UFC contests.