UFC 201 results: Tyron Woodley stuns Robbie Lawler to claim welterweight title with first round knockout

Forget the historic UFC 200 and for the minute at least, forget McGregor vs Diaz II at UFC 202. Last evening UFC 201 delivered in spades with exciting fights, big KOs and jaw-dropping moments. Most significantly of all, the night culminated with a new UFC welterweight champion.

Tyron Woodley becomes the new UFC welterweight champion

The UFC welterweight title main event saw a battle of two American Top Team teammates as champion Robbie Lawler defended his belt against Tyron Woodley.

The opening round started tentatively but Woodley was stalking Lawler down, pushing him back and waiting to pull the trigger.

After two minutes barely a punch had been thrown but then it happened - BOOM. Woodley landed a massive overhand right flush on the chin of Lawler knocking him down. Woodley followed up with a few shots but the job was done. Woodley had done what he said he was going to do and what only one man in history had done before - knocked out Lawler.

With just two minutes and twelve seconds on the clock, Woodley became the new UFC welterweight champion of the world.

Kowalkiewicz outlasts Namajunas over three rounds

Many had Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Rose Namajunas billed as a number one contender fight for the UFC strawweight title so there was plenty on the line for these women heading into last night's co-main event.

The action in the first round saw both women using fantastic footwork to slip in and out of range to throw their strikes. Over the full five minutes, Namajunas seemed to be landing with more frequency and power and no doubt stole the round late on when she got the takedown and ended up in mount position as the buzzer sounded.

Round two began in a similar fashion but it wasn't long before Namajunas backed Kowalkiewicz against the cage and initiated a clinch. Namajunas then tried for the takedown but Kowalkiewicz managed to break away landing some big solid elbows as she exited the range.

With the fight back in the centre of the Octagon, Namajunas continued to land punches but Kowalkiewicz walked through them as if they were nothing. The Pole then landed some big body shots towards the end of the round as Namajunas looked to be tiring and breathing through her mouth.

With it likely all square heading into round three, it was all down to the final five minutes. As before, the round began with the women boxing at range. Namajunas again landed more volume but Kowalkiewicz was replying with counter shots that seemed to be hurting Namajunas more.

With half the round left, a big moment in the fight came when Namajunas went for a takedown. Kowalkiewicz backpedalled and Namajunas fell short allowing the Pole clinch her, take her down and then work away at her with strikes for nearly the remainder of the round. As the final buzzer went Kowalkiewicz had obviously got the better of Namajunas in round three.

After the full fifteen minutes, the judges scored the fight unanimously in favour of Kowalkiewicz 29-28, handing the Pole her fourth UFC victory and potentially setting up a future all Polish UFC strawweight title fight between Kowalkiewicz and champion Joanna J?drzejczyk.

Best of the rest ... Ellenberger causes an upset and Pearson fights bravely

Also featured on the main card, Matt Brown took on Jake Ellenberger in a fight that had big consequences for both men as they looked to stay in contention with the top of the division. The fight started incredibly with Ellenberger dropping Brown inside 5 seconds with a huge right hand. Brown did well to recover and fight back but the end was nigh.

Ellenberger then drilled him with a big kick to the liver that instantly had Brown down again. With his man turtled up, Ellenberger seized the opportunity to lay on the ground and pound to get the stoppage and the TKO win for a big upset.

The main card started with two relatively unknown flyweights Ryan Benoit and Fredy Serrano in a flyweight affair full of sloppy technique and wild, inaccurate striking. After fifteen very forgettable minutes, Benoit took a split decision 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.

Earlier on the prelims, Nikita Krylov scored a crazy walk-off knockout on Ed Herman with a stunning head kick, while British fighter Ross Pearson dropped yet another decision to Jorge Masvidal in a brave effort that saw him battle through a flash knockdown in the second round.

Main Card

Tyron Woodley def Robbie Lawler via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 2:12

Karolina Kowalkiewicz def Rose Namajunas by split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)

Jake Ellenberger def Matt Brown via TKO (punches) - Round 1, 1:46

Erik Perez def Francisco Rivera by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 29-28)

Ryan Benoit def Fredy Serrano via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Preliminary Card

Ed Herman def Nikita Krylov via knockout (kick) – Round 2, 0:40

Jorge Masvidal def Ross Pearson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Andrews Nakahara def Travis Doerge via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 0:55

Wilson Reis def Hector Sandoval via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1, 1:49

Early Prelim Card

Michael Graves vs Bojan Velickovic declared a majority draw (30-27, 28-28, 28-28)

Damien Brown def Cesar Arzamendia via knockout (punches) - Round 1, 2:27