UFC 201 results: Full fight card winners and reaction from Lawler vs. Woodley

Tyron Woodley smashed Robbie Lawler in the face for a title-taking instant knock out in the first round of their UFC 201 welterweight title fight on Saturday night in Atlanta, Georgia. Woodly caught Lawler with a huge overhand right that dropped the champ. He immediately followed up with multiple smashing shots to the head. The 2:12 finish was the fastest finish in UFC welterweight history.

Woodly is expected to face Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in his first title defense.

Karolina Kowalkiewicz made her dreams of an all-Polish UFC title fight by edging Rose Namajunas in a split-decision title eliminator in the co-main event. Namajunas seemed to have the edge at range and maybe on the ground, but the Pole had the edge in the clinch. Kowalkiewicz hurt Namajunas repeatedly with knees and elbows on the inside.

Jake Ellenberger dropped Matt Brown with a huge right hand in the very first exchange. Brown managed to survive the ensuing ground and pound onslaught and got back to his feet. For a moment it looked as if Brown had turned things around, tagging Ellenberger with repeated straight punches and driving him back against the cage. Then Ellenberger landed a devastating liver kick, followed it up on the ground and that was that. Enormous upset win for Ellenberger.
After a very close opening round, Erik Perez used his technical advantages to pull ahead of Francisco Rivera in the second. He almost threw it away by letting Rivera lure him into a wild brawl to open the third, but managed to hold it together en route to a unanimous decision win.

Flyweights Ryan Benoit and Freddy Serrano opened the pay-per-view with a back and forth battle that saw Serrano dominate on the ground and Benoit edge him on the feet. Two of the judges thought that was enough to give Benoit the split-decision nod.

In the preliminary headliner on Fox Sports 2, Nikita Krylov finished Ed Herman with a face-planting walk-away head kick KO early in the second round. Herman was out-classed at range throughout the fight and couldn’t keep the fight at clinching range long enough to overcome Krylov.

Jorge Masvidal dropped Ross Pearson a couple of times en route to a unanimous decision win. Masvidal couldn’t finish Pearson when he had him hurt but the outcome was never seriously in doubt.

Heavyweight Anthony Hamilton blasted Damien Grabowski into unconsciousness in just 14 seconds with a flurry of thunderous punches.

Former jiu-jitsu champ Wilson Reis made short work of Hector Sandoval, scoring a submission via rear naked choke in the first round. Reis had been set to fight Demetrious Johnson for the flyweight title when Johnson got hurt. Reis risked his shot against the dangerous Sandoval and made it pay off.

Despite dominating his opponent for most of the second and third rounds, Michael Graves had to settle for a majority draw against Bojan Velickovic. One judge scored it 30-28 for Graves but the other two had it a 28-28.

In the fight pass opener, Aussie Damien Brown kept catching Cesar Arzamendia with right hooks that dropped him and eventually knocked him out cold in the first round.

UFC 201 Complete Results
Pay Per View Main Card
Welterweight: Tyron Woodley def. Robbie Lawler via KO(punches) at 2:12 of Round 1.
Women’s Strawweight: Karolina Kowalkiewicz def. Rose Namajunas via split decision (28-29, 29-28 x2).
Welterweight: Jake Ellenberger def. Matt Brown via TKO (kick and punches) at 1:46 of Round 1.
Bantamweight: Erik Perez def. Francisco Rivera by unanimous decision (30-26 x2, 29-28).
Flyweight: Ryan Benoit def. Freddy Serrano by split decision (28-29, 29-28 x2).

Fox Sports 2 Prelims
Light Heavyweight: Nikita Krylov def. Ed Herman via KO (head kick) at 0:40 of Round 2.
Welterweight: Jorge Masvidal def. Ross Pearson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28x2).
Heavyweight: Anthony Hamilton def. Damien Grabowski by KO (punches) at 0:14 of Round 1.
Flyweight: Wilson Reis def. Hector Sandoval by submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:49 of Round 1.

Fight Pass Prelims
Welterweight: Michael Graves drew Bojan Velickovic (30-28 Graves, 28-28 x2)
Lightweight: Damien Brown def. Cesar Arzamendia via KO (punches) at 2:27 of Round 1.