UFC 171 took place on Saturday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas and Johny Hendricks became the UFC welterweight champion as he defeated Robbie Lawler by unanimous decision.
Hendricks got off to a great start in the opening ten minutes by mixing up his strikes with punches and kicks. During the first two round, he struggled to get the fight to the ground as Lawler stopped several attempts.
In the third round, Lawler began to take over as he landed a flurry of punches and appeared to have Hendricks out on his feet. Hendricks would be able to weather the storm in the round and make it to the championship rounds.
Lawler would keep his momentum going in the fourth round as he hurt Hendricks with his strikes and landed thirty more strikes that Hendricks in the round. As the round came to an end, Hendricks did land a takedown.
With the fight tied, the fighters threw everything they had in the fifth round and Hendricks landed multiple significant strikes. Lawler appeared to be gased as his hands were down and Hendricks would take the fight to the ground and secured the win.
All three judges would have the fight 48-47 for Hendricks (16-2) and he becomes the first UFC welterweight champion not named Matt Hughes or Georges St-Pierre since 2004.
Woodley scores victory following Condit suffering a knee injury
The co-main event of the fight card was a key welterweight bout and following former interim champion Carlos Condit suffering a knee injury in the second round, Tyron Woodley won due to the injury.
During the opening round, Woodley was able to get the fight to the ground on two occasions but was unable to mount much offense on the ground. He was able to land with multiple significant strikes during the first five minutes of the fight. At the beginning of the second round, he scored another takedown and Condit appeared to be hurt from the takedown attempt.
The fight would go back to the feet and Woodley immediately threw a leg kick at the right knee of Condit. Once the leg kick connected, Condit fell and grab his knee. The referee immediately came in to stop the fight and Woodley was declared the winner.
Woodley (13-2) has now won three of his four fights in the UFC and told Joe Rogan that he wants a title shot now.
Jury remains undefeated with decision victory against Sanchez
In the only lightweight bout of the main card, TUF alum Myles Jury won his fifth fight in the UFC as he defeated veteran Diego Sanchez by unanimous decision.
Throughout the fight, Jury was able to pick his strikes wisely and stay away from the brawls with Sanchez. He would take the fight to the ground on three occasions, but Sanchez would have two guillotine choke submissions. Jury would escape the submissions and continue to score with his strikes on the feet.
At the end of the fight, all three judges scored the fight for Jury (13-0) and he is now tied with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Rafael Dos Anjos, and TJ Grant for the longest active winning streak in the UFC lightweight division.
Lombard wins second straight with decision over Shields
In the first of three welterweight bouts on the main card, Hector Lombard improve to 2-0 in the UFC welterweight division as he defeated former Strikeforce champion Jake Shields by unanimous decision.
Lombard was able to rock Shields in the first round and nearly came up with a stoppage finish. However, Shields would be able to recover and make it out of the first round. Lombard would continue to control the fight in the second round with his strikes and stop all of the takedown attempts by Shields.
Shields best moment in the final came in the final moments as he was able to lock in a guillotine choke, but Lombard would be able to defend the submission until the final bell sounded. All the judges would score the fight for Lombard (34-4-1, 1NC), who has now won three of his five fights in the UFC.
St-Preux only needs 89 seconds to win 4th straight fight
The opening bout of the UFC 171 pay-per-view was a light heavyweight bout as Ovince St-Preux only needed 89 seconds to submit Nikita Krylov with a Von flue choke.
St-Preux would be able to get the fight to the ground early and Krylov attempted to scramble to get back to his feet. St-Preux would keep the fight on the ground and as Krylov went for a guillotine choke, St-Preux countered with the Von flue choke and Krylov would end up going to sleep.
St-Preux (15-5) has now won his first three fights in the UFC and it’s his fourth straight win overall. This is his fourth career win by submission and he has won twelve of his last thirteen fights.
The complete UFC 171 results are below.
Main Card: (PPV)
Johny Hendricks def. Robbie Lawler via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47)
Tyron Woodley def. Carlos Condit via TKO (injury) – Round 2, 2:00
Myles Jury def. Diego Sanchez via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Hector Lombard def. Jake Shields via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Ovince St. Preux def. Nikita Krylov via submission (Von flue choke) – Round 1, 1:29
Preliminary Card: (Fox Sports 2)
Kelvin Gastelum def. Rick Story via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Jessica Andrade def. Raquel Pennington via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Dennis Bermudez def. Jimy Hettes via TKO (strikes) – Round 3, 2:57
Alex Garcia def. Sean Spencer via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)
Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass)
Francisco Trevino def. Renee Forte via unanimous decision (29-28 29-28, 29-28)
Justin Scoggins def. Will Campuzano via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Sean Strickland def. Bubba McDaniel via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 4:33
Robert Whiteford def. Daniel Pineda via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)