Robbie Lawler and Johny Hendricks put on a show in their entertaining welterweight rematch on Saturday night at UFC 181. The hotly contested bout ultimately went Lawler’s way via split decision, evening the series between him and Hendricks at 1-1.
MMAjunkie provided a look at the scorecard, which was soundly judged and reflected the fierce competition and fighting on display from these two proud brawlers:
Lawler improved his overall record to 25-10, while Hendricks’ rare loss put him at 16-3 for his career. This bout was one of the main storylines of the year for UFC after Hendricks’ win in March at UFC 171 earned him the vacant welterweight title.
Lawler left open the possibility of a grudge match after his win, via UFC:
In the co-main event, Anthony Pettis defended his lightweight title for the first time by defeating Gilbert Melendez in the second round with a guillotine submission.
The main card was full of powerful shots and entertaining moments, with the heavyweight matches providing fans a nice warm-up to the main event with a few thunderous strikes.
Here is a look at the results from the main card, followed by a closer look at some of the top moments from all the action on display at UFC 181:
Note: The full list of bouts and results from UFC 181 can be found here.
Top Moments
In the first fight on the main card, Tony Ferguson scored a second round win via submission over Abel Trujillo with a diabolical rear-naked choke. Trujillo was in control of the fight in the first round, scoring two takedowns and one knockdown.
Trujillo clearly did too much in the first round of the bout. Sports Illustrated‘s Jeff Wagenheim noted fatigue was the determining factor in this contest:
Ferguson was a bit overmatched standing up, but once he found his opportunity to move the match to the ground, Trujillo had no chance. USA Today‘s Ben Fowlkes noted the ease with which Trujillo fell to the mat:
Ferguson did well to pounce on his opportunity, and his chokehold earned him a big victory over a fighter who was lacking one crucial dimension in stamina.
Todd Duffee’s knockout win over Anthony Hamilton took just 33 seconds. Suffice it to say, the decisive blow was the top moment from that matchup.
Hamilton, backing away from an aggressive Duffee, attempted to come in with a straight left followed by a quick right hand. Duffee side-stepped the first shot and caught Hamilton flush on the chin with most of the latter fighter’s momentum taking him right into the crunching strike.
MMA fighter Sarah Kaufman criticized Hamilton’s hands, while MMAFighting.com noted Duffee is known to make quick work of his opponents:
Hamilton crumpled to the ground, with his senses completely cut out. It was a truly fearsome blow and should have Duffee’s next opponent wary of his immense power.
The next fight didn’t last much longer than Hamilton’s hammering. Travis Browne scored an easy first-round technical knockout win over Brendan Schaub.
Browne and Schaub felt each other out in the beginning, but Hapa would send Schaub crashing to the canvas with a strong uppercut to the chin. From there, a vicious ground-and-pound game commenced, with Browne dishing out an immense amount of punishment and forcing the official to call the fight early.
UFC noted Browne tied a record with his knockout win:
After the big heavies were done knocking each other out, it was time for a little bit more of a tango between Anthony Pettis and Gilbert Melendez in the lightweight title fight.
Melendez did well to control the first round of the fight, scoring one takedown and landing 49 strikes to Pettis’ 22 with some aggressiveness in the standing game.
Pettis came out firing in the second but eventually found himself backed against the cage. He used his supreme agility to slip a shooting Melendez and get him into a quick guillotine, forcing the challenger to tap out.
Melendez kept things classy in his post-match comments, per UFC:
Lawler vs. Hendricks would turn out to be the only main card bout to go the distance. Lawler got off to a shaky start with Hendricks notching a takedown. However, Lawler landed 43 strikes on his opponent in the first round and come out of it in good shape.
Hendricks fared better in the second, notching yet another takedown halfway through the round and beating his opponent with slick jabs and several strong knees while fighting for that takedown. Hendricks continued his dominance in the third, notching two more takedowns and outstriking Lawler 28-13. The fourth was fairly even, but the fifth round was where Lawler made his mark and won the contest.
He was simply a different animal in the latter portion of the round, furiously pounding away at his opponent with right-handed shots, elbows and several vicious kicks. He landed a staggering 63 total strikes in the round. The judges gave Lawler the win, which caused MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani to make this sweeping statement:
A third match between these two opponents would be a coup for both UFC and the fans. Hendricks’ supporters have a strong case for him winning the bout thanks to several strong takedowns and his overall control of the middle rounds of the fight.
Lawler’s stunning finish was irresistible to the judges, and the fourth round was indeed a very close call. The welterweight division is looking strong with these two fighters valiantly battling for glory.
Fight stats courtesy of UFC.com.
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