Hendricks whips Fil-Am, clinches UFC welter title

MANILA, Philippines - Johnny Hendricks bucked a bloodied nose and fended off Robbie Lawler’s attack to beat the Fil-Am bet and clinch the welterweight crown in the UFC 171 via unanimous decision at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas.

Lawler actually was  one clean shot away from becoming the first fighter of Filipino descent to win a UFC title after coming through with a barrage of shots in the fourth of their five-round duel. But Hendricks countered with solid hits while keeping Lawler from landing the big one.

Hendricks’ late surge earned the nod of all three judges, who scored 48-47 in his favor to clinch the title vacated by Georges St. Pierre.

It was Hendricks’ 16th win against two losses, including a controversial split decision loss to St. Pierre last November in a match many thought he had won.

St. Pierre eventually vacated the title to take a much-needed break from the sport, paving the way for the Hendricks-Lawler title duel.

“I just threw everything out there,” said Hendricks.

“It was a long journey, I just didn’t expect to go down this way,” said Lawler, who fell to 22-10 (win-loss) with one no-contest.

Although he didn’t convince the judges, Lawler impressed UFC president Dana White, who awarded him and Hendricks $50,000 each for winning the Fight of the Night.

The duo slugged it out fiercely and had a combined 308 significant strikes, which broke the record in a UFC title fight previouslyset in the Jones vs Gustafsson showdown with 244.

Hendricks, though, delivered the solid strikes as he landed 158, the fourth most ever made by a welterweight in a single fight.

Performance of the Night was awarded to Dennis Bermudez, who posted his sixth straight win after a third roudn TKO of Jimmy Hetes, and Ovince Saint Preux, who set the fourth fastest win in the light heavy history following his stoppage of Nikita Krylov in 1:29 of the first round.