UFC 201 found itself in a precarious position, sandwiched between UFC 200 and UFC 202. While the card itself had some mouthwatering bouts, there wasn’t much fanfare going into the event. The main event was a title fight between the welterweight champion Robbie Lawler and the number one contender, Tyron Woodley.
The co – main event was a potential title eliminator between Polish striker Karolina Kowalkiewicz and the gritty Rose Namajunas in the strawweight division. Rose was coming off of an impressive victory over Tecia Torres, while KK picked up a victory over Heather Jo Clark couple of months ago.
The other big fight on the card was between Matt Brown and Jake Ellenberger. Both the fighters were riding on losses, and going into the fight, Jake asked the UFC brass for one more fight to prove himself.
The fight was considered to be vital for both the veterans, with the loser facing a potential exodus from the organization.
On the FS2 prelims, former number one contender Wilson Reis took on Hector Sandoval, and quickly finished him off with an RNC in the opening minutes of the first round. Masvidal and Ross Pearson then engaged in a mouthwatering welterweight bout, with Masvidal picking up a victory by unanimous decision.
On the main card, Serrano and Benoit faced off in a flyweight bout, with Serrano taking Benoit down multiple times, but failed to do any substantial damage. Benoit tried to take the fight to Serrano, and in the end, Benoit did enough to pick up a split decision victory.
Erik Perez and Francisco Rivera then faced off, with Perez doing a lot of damage in the first two rounds. Rivera came out swinging in the third round, as both the fighters exchanged blows. But with Rivera gassing out, Perez cruised to a unanimous decision victory in the bantamweight fight.
Jake Ellenberger came into the event on a losing streak – losing 5 out of his previous 6 fights. Ellenberger faced the likes of Rory MacDonald, Robbie Lawler and Stephen Thompson in his previous fights, and said he had the best training camp going into the fight with Brown.
Matt Brown himself had lost 3 out of his previous 4 fights, which made his fight with Jake all the more important.
Jake came out strong, and immediately connected with an overhand right. Brown however managed to stay in the fight, but ate a kick to the liver, sending him to the ground, where Jake swarmed in and finished him off with rights in the first round.
Karolina executes perfect game plan against Rose Namajunas
Going into the fight, everyone believed that once Rose took KK to the ground, it won’t take long for the perennial title contender to finish heroff. Rose didn’t have Pat Barry in her corner for this fight, and while KK was a dangerous striker, she went into the fight as an underdog.
Rose started off strong, and had a good first round where she waited for KK to come within range, and countered her opponent’s strikes. However, KK grew in confidence as the fight went on, and was dominant in clinches, tagging Rose with elbows and knees.
Rose started showing signs of exhaustion, and started breathing heavily going into the third round.
KK proved her doubters wrong, when she showed a much improved defensive technique on the ground. Rose tried to trap KK in a leg lock, but KK escaped the predicament with ease, and worked on Rose in the clinch.
Karolina was dominant in the final round, and picked up a split decision victory over the dangerous Namajunas, setting up a potential showdown with Joanna for the strawweight title.
Economy and precision – Tyron Woodley does the unthinkable
2016 has been a year of upsets. TJ, Werdum, RDA and Rockhold all lost their titles, while Holly lost the UFC bantamweight title to Miesha, who in turn lost to Nunes at UFC 200. Robbie Lawler, however, has been the irresistible force that has gone to wars with the likes of Hendricks, Rory and most recently, Condit.
Lawler was the odds-on favorite to walk out of 201 as still the Welterweight champion. However, Woodley had other ideas.
Going into the fight, Woodley and Duke Roufus focused on being economical, with Woodley known to expend a lot of energy during his fights. Woodley is one of the bigger fighters at 170, and packs a lot of power in his punches.
Woodley’s pace has also been a major factor for the NCAA Division I wrestler gassing out during his fights.
Once the fight started though, Woodley sized up his opponent and was cautious in his approach. He bid his time but closed the distance sufficiently and backed the champion against the fence to tag him with a wicked overhand right and closed in to finish the job.
Woodley talked about facing Nick Diaz in a money fight during the post fight presser, and it will be interesting to see what happens next, with Stephen Thompson waiting in the wings.
