UFC 201: Lawler vs. Woodley was held Saturday night at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, the first UFC event following the promotion's landmark 200.
The 201 card experienced setbacks with the early July withdrawal of flyweight champion Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson due to injury, which subsequently derailed a planned title defense against Wilson Reis, and the cancellation of a flyweight bout between Ian "Uncle Creepy" McCall and Justin Scoggins due to Scoggins' inability to make weight. The event was also overshadowed by the upcoming UFC 202, which features a highly anticipated rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz in Las Vegas. Despite all of this, however, UFC 201 provided for a quality night of fights.
The level of competition was high, as devastating knockouts and close decisions punctuated the first event under the new UFC ownership. In the first preliminary fight of the evening, Damian Brown left Cesar Armazendia face down on the canvas with a pair of wicked right hooks. The next bout, between American Top Team's Michael Graves and Serbian Bojan Velickovic, finished out at a majority draw with Velickovic's leg kicks balanced out by Graves' wrestling.
Flyweights Wilson Reis and Hector Sandoval followed suit in the initial Fox Sports 2 prelims. Reis, ranked No.7 in the division, was originally scheduled to take on Johnson in the co-main event but found himself relegated to the undercard when it was decided that Sandoval should be his opponent. Reis showed no issues with Sandoval, forcing him to tap out to rear naked choke at 2:27 of the first round.
American Anthony Hamilton took down Poland's Damian Grabowski in a heavyweight contest. Hamilton bum rushed Grabowski from the opening horn, relentlessly putting leather to face in such aggressive fashion that Grabowski barely had any time to get off any punches of his own before being sent to dreamland. Hamilton worked so quickly that it only took 14 seconds to take the knockout, the second fastest in UFC heavyweight history.
In welterweight action, Jorge Masvidal stole a unanimous decision over Ross Pearson. Pearson, a longtime UFC vet, brought a lot of heart into the fight, as he weathered a heavy storm when Masvidal dropped him in the second round with a left hook and rained punches from above. The Brit eventually rose to his feet and showed no signs of wear, arguably winning the third round with heavy strikes, but Masvidal showed way too much of an advantage in the first two rounds. The bout was originally scheduled between Claudio Silva and Siyar Bahadurzada, but Masvidal replaced Silva, who dropped out due to injury, and Pearson replaced Bahadurzada, who cited illness.
Light heavyweights Nikita Krylov and Ed Herman took the stage for the final preliminary fight. It took Krylov a mere 40 seconds to land a left roundhouse kick to the base of Herman's jaw, which sent Herman crashing to the mat like a sack of bricks.
With UFC mainstay ring announcer Bruce Buffer's catchphrase of, "It's time!" the main card was underway. Flyweight Ryan Benoit and Fredy Serrano kicked things off in the most unique fight of the evening. The bout was a close decision victory for Benoit, who had taken the fight on 10 days' notice. Serrano wasn't afraid to take risks, rolling around the mat in a few flashes of unorthodox offense and defense and using hip thrusts in highly unconventional attacking while in the north-south position, but his best moments came from the heavy slams that dotted the fight. Benoit, on the other hand, decided to stick to the conventional, knocking down the former Olympian with a straight right. His striking paid off throughout the fight and won him the judge's scorecards.
Up next, Mexico's Erik Perez took on California's Francisco Rivera in a wild fight. The bantamweight bout saw Perez engage in some rough exchanges with Rivera but dominating overall. The Mexican landed a spinning elbow to Rivera's right temple in the second, opening up a gash that would eventually leave Rivera a bloody mess. Rivera seemed fired up by the blood at the start of the third, taking Perez to task with a furious brawl that left Rivera visibly gassed. In the end, Perez, wearing his traditional luchador mask post-fight, had his hand raised.
Jake Ellenberger walked out with a victory over Matt Brown in a welterweight matchup that was possibly do-or-die for both men. Ellenberger came to the fight carrying a 1-5 record in his last six fights while Brown had only won one out of his last four. The action was fierce from the start, with a charging Brown knocked down by Ellenberger's right hand. Ellenberger attempted to capitalize but Brown recovered and brought the fight to the former Marine, pushing forward while picking shots. In the end, Ellenberger landed a left roundhouse kick perfectly on top of Brown's liver, leaving Brown clutching his body and eating shots from above before the referee called the fight.
In a women's strawweight title eliminator, Karolina Kowalkiewicz took a split decision over Rose Namajunas. Both women landed multiple heavy shots throughout, and Namajunas attempted a few submissions after being taken down by Kowalkiewicz. However, Kowalkiewicz' high output in the clinch with knees to the body sealed the deal on two judges' cards and bringing her record to a perfect 10-0, possibly setting up for the first all-Polish title fight in the UFC against division queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the process.
The night closed out with a common event in recent UFC history -- a title change. In the main event, Tyron Woodley took down teammate Robbie Lawler to claim the welterweight belt. The American Top Team standouts started off at a careful pace, and Lawler eventually took Woodley in an uneventful clinch from which both fighters were separated. Eventually, Woodley cracked the champ with a thunderous right hand, following Lawler to the floor and slamming down fists until referee Dan Miragliotta stepped in to close out the evening.
