‘The Chosen One’ Tyron Woodley delivers stunning knockout to dethrone Robbie Lawler at UFC 201

A HUGE overhand right sprung yet another world championship shock in the UFC as Tyron Woodley claimed the UFC welterweight title in spectacular fashion at UFC 201.

Woodley needed just two minutes 12 seconds to finish veteran champion Robbie Lawler in record time and send another world champion to defeat in a remarkable year that has seen no less than SEVEN UFC world champions lose their titles.

Woodley started very calmly, staying on the outside and biding his time before finally exploding into action two minutes into the bout.

After throwing Lawler a feint that had the champion guessing, Woodley burst forward with a massive overhand right that sent the champion crashing to the mat.

A vicious salvo of ground strikes forced referee Dan Miragliotta to dive in and stop the contest, with Woodley claiming his first clean KO win since his finish of Josh Koscheck back in November 2013.

After the fight, Woodley told commentator Joe Rogan: “I’ve been extremely relaxed. I was nervous that I wasn’t nervous.

“I know what Robbie brought to the table. He’s a tough competitor. This is not the first fight I would pick – he’s a friend of mine, I admire his career, hats off to Robbie.

“But I’ve been envisioning this belt being around my waist my entire life. Ever since I stepped into the Octagon, I had this mission at stake.

“We just knew Robbie would be well-prepared for a takedown, so I used a little speed – a blitz – to cover the gap. And when I saw the opening I went for the right hand.

“Something just kept telling me that right hand was going to be open and I just went for it.

“It feels good, man. Obviously don’t want to feel all amazing about knocking out Robbie Lawler, but he had the belt and that’s what I wanted to go for and here I am, standing here with the belt around my waist.”

The night’s co-main event saw Poland’s undefeated Karolina Kowalkiewicz move one step closer to an all-Polish world title fight with champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk with a split-decision win over fellow contender Rose Namajunas.

Namajunas started the better, taking the opening round, but the Pole came storming back to take Rounds 2 and 3 on two of the judges’ scorecards to extend her perfect professional record to 10-0 and put her in pole position for a shot at Jedrzejczyk’s title.

Also on the main card, welterweight Jake ‘The Juggernaut’ Ellenberger went into his bout with Matt ‘The Immortal’ Brown with many believing defeat would spell the end of his UFC career.

But Ellenberger sensationally decked Brown with his very first punch – a huge overhand right – then kept the pressure on before eventually finding a spectacular finish.

A huge body kick folded up the usually teak-tough Brown, who fell to the canvas as Ellenberger finished the fight with a flurry of ground strikes to keep his UFC career alive and confirm he’s still a major player at 170lbs.

Light-heavyweight prospect Nikita Krylov extended his remarkable run of finishes to five in a row with a devastating head-kick knockout of Octagon veteran Ed ‘Short Fuse’ Herman.

Herman’s toughness kept him in contention in a competitive opening round, but Krylov’s superior striking gave him the edge.

And the Ukrainian turned up the heat in a major way early in the second, landing a spinning backfist, then connecting flush with a spectacular head kick that knocked Herman out cold before he hit the canvas.

It proved one step too far for Brit Ross ‘The Real Deal’ Pearson, as he stepped up to welterweight on short notice to take on former lightweight prospect Jorge Masvidal on the preliminary card.

Pearson started well, but as the fight progressed Masvidal warmed to his task and outstruck the Brit, decking him in Round 2 and closing in on a TKO finish.

But despite being badly rocked the Brit managed to survive and take the fight to the scorecards at the end of the third.

And when the scorecards were totalled, they all came out in favour of Masvidal, who looks to have all the tools to be a future contender at 170lbs.

And heavyweight Anthony Hamilton produced the best performance of his UFC career as ‘The Freight Train’ ran right through Pole Damian Grabowski in just 14 seconds.