UFC 189 results: Robbie Lawler TKOs Rory MacDonald in fifth in war for the ages

Robbie Lawler

LAS VEGAS – Robbie Lawler’s first welterweight title defense was in no way easy. The bloody, back-and-forth UFC 189 war with Rory MacDonald came to a close in the final round when a Lawler punch cracked MacDonald on his already badly damaged nose and sent him crumbling to the canvas.

The welterweight title bout was the co-main event of today’s UFC 189 event at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It aired pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Lawler (26-10 MMA, 11-4 UFC) and MacDonald (18-3 MMA, 9-3 UFC) wasted no time engaging in Round 1. MacDonald looked to throw body kicks and straight punches while Lawler threw some heavy looping punches at the head of his opponent. After the pace slowed and the two men began to feel each other out, MacDonald shot for a takedown which was stuffed by Lawler.

Both men landed some decent punches in the round with MacDonald utilizing a long straight right and Lawler throwing hard with his lead right, reddening the face of the challenger.

Lawler stuck MacDonald with a stiff jab to start out Round 2. MacDonald landed a good head kick that Lawler shrugged off. In addition, MacDonald continued to go back to the body with kicks, lowering the arm of Lawler some as he looked to defend.

Late in the round it was Lawler who started to get loose and land solid shots bloodying up the face of MacDonald.

Lawler continued to look loose and comfortable in his movement when he came out to start Round 3. With MacDonald looking to drift back to range where his length would be more of a factor Lawler stepped in and cracked him with some big shots before easily stuffing another MacDonald takedown attempt.

With MacDonald bleeding badly from several cuts on his face and with what appeared to be a broken nose, Lawler continued to stalk while not over-extending himself on any of his strikes. With things looking bad for the challenger, MacDonald suddenly unleashed a head kick that, while partially blocked, took the legs of Lawler. With Lawler staggering backward to the cage, MacDonald unleashed a torrent of punches, kicks, knees and elbows.

Lawler fired back at MacDonald but the end of Round 3 was all MacDonald as he suddenly appeared to take back control of the fight.

MacDonald opened Round 4 with another head kick that hurt Lawler. MacDonald, spurred on by Lawler’s unsteadiness, turned up the heat with another flurry of strikes, including a series of hard elbows to the face of the champion.

Lawler managed to regain his legs and began to push forward once again, landing some good shots and, once again, stuffing a MacDonald takedown attempt.

By the end of Round 4, Lawler had joined MacDonald in gushing blood, sporting a badly split upper lip. Lawler spit blood on the canvas at the end of the round and the two men engaged in a staredown before having to be separated and sent to their corner.

Lawler looked pumped up, screaming at the crowd before the start of Round 5. Moments later he landed a hard straight left to the already damaged nose of MacDonald. MacDonald grabbed at his nose as he stumbled backward and fell to the canvas, turtling up while Lawler threw punches and forced the stoppage at the 1:00 mark of Round 5 of an incredible fight.

Lawler entered the night on a three-fight winning streak after losing his first bid at the welterweight title. After rattling off wins against Jake Ellenberger and Matt Brown, Lawler avenged his UFC 171 loss to Johny Hendricks, taking a split decision to win the title at UFC 181.

MacDonald was on his own three-fight winning streak, dating back to a UFC 167 split decision loss in his first meeting with Lawler.

Up-to-the-minute UFC 189 results include:

• Robbie Lawler def. Rory MacDonald via TKO (punches) – Round 5, 1:00
• Jeremy Stephens def. Dennis Bermudez via TKO (knee, punches) – Round 3, 0:32
• Gunnar Nelson def. Brandon Thatch via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:54
• Thomas Almeida def. Brad Pickett via knockout (flying knee) – Round 2, 0:29
• Matt Brown def. Tim Means via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:44
• Alex Garcia def. Mike Swick via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
• John Howard def. Cathal Pendred via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Cody Garbrandt def. Henry Briones via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Louis Smolka def. Neil Seery via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Cody Pfister def. Yosdenis Cedeno via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

For complete coverage of UFC 189, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

(MMAjunkie’s John Morgan, Matt Erickson, Steven Marrocco and Ben Fowlkes contributed to this report on site in Las Vegas.)