It very well could have happened another time over the last year and a half. A loss. An inch here, a missed breath there and Robbie Lawler might not have owned the UFC welterweight belt as he stepped into the octagon on Saturday night. But there it was, in the seemingly safe possession of one of MMA’s most game fighters who appeared to be hitting his stride as champion.  As “Ruthless” Robbie stood across the octagon from his latest challenger in the 170lb division, it was on Tyron Woodley to do what Rory MacDonald and Carlos Condit could not.  Related: Michael Bisping: 'I despise that term. I’m not a cage fighter. I'm a martial artist'  That moment came early, at 2:12 of round one, with the fastest finish in UFC welterweight title fight history. Woodley, thick in the thighs and chest, feinted to get Lawler to drop his defenses. A smart fighter who made a career of unleashing hell after a bit of trickery was done in by familiar means. Before the bout Lawler said Woodley’s technique and speed were “nice”, but to do what he did the key was getting down and dirty.  Woodley didn’t hesitate when he had the chance. In a blink the new champion burst forward, unleashing a right hand over the top that cracked Lawler on the chin and sent him sprawling to the canvas. A short barrage followed before the referee, Dan Miragliotta, dove in to end the assault.  “We just knew that Robbie would be well prepared for a takedown, that he would hit me with knees and uppercuts to defend it,” said Woodley, from Ferguson, Missouri. “We went with the blitz. Something told me he would be open for the right hand and I went for it.”  Four years ago Woodley failed in a bid to win his first major MMA belt after veteran Nate Marquardt exposed holes in his game to score a stunning fourth-round stoppage. The last bout of Woodley’s career outside the UFC was his first loss in MMA. Twice more Woodley tasted defeat during six bouts inside the octagon, as he displayed flashes of brilliance alongside frustrating examples of underused talent.  While Lawler’s last 18 months standout as the best stretch of his memorable career, Woodley was stuck spinning his wheels. A matchup against Johnny Hendricks, whom Lawler captured the title from in December 2014, was cast aside last October due to a weight-cutting snafu that wasn’t Woodley’s fault. He decided he wouldn’t fight until he had what he wanted right in front of him.  Despite the close calls and widespread evidence of the difficulty of retaining a UFC championship, Lawler looked so natural with the belt that it began to feel like he could hold it for an extended reign. Like Matt Hughes or his successor, the all-time great welterweight, Georges St-Pierre, Lawler appeared to thrive as champion, reaching new heights in and out of the cage.  A willingness to give it all, to let pure fighting trump anything else, gave Lawler a deserved reputation for sparking legendary contests against tenacious challengers. Lawler represented realized and flourishing potential.  Woodley had none of it. “Growing up in Ferguson, a lot of people said I wasn’t going to be anything,” he noted. “I’ve proven them wrong.”  Lawler and Woodley came into the world a month apart in 1982. The 34-year-old pair grew up playing sports and spent much of their youth devoted to amateur wrestling. Later, in their own ways, they found mixed martial arts. Lawler in 2001 at the commencement of his adult life. Woodley in 2009, after graduation from the University of Missouri, began contemplating things like starting and supporting a family.  Their careers eventually intersected a few years ago at the Coconut Creek, Florida-based MMA camp American Top Team. Woodley (16-3) called Lawler (27-11, 1 NC) a friend and explained how he long admired him. “I knew what Robbie brings to the table,” Woodley said. “This was not the fight I would have picked because Robbie is my team-mate.”  The former champion suggested he deserved a rematch, but acknowledged that in no way was he guaranteed to get one. “I’m a mean individual,” Lawler said. “This is what I do for a living and I would have had no problem doing the same to him.”  The welterweight division has long been among the UFC’s most interesting. Many critics felt in place of Woodley, Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson deserved the next shot at Lawler. Thompson himself seemed to dismiss Woodley’s chances this week when he said he hoped to meet Lawler next, though Thompson quickly called out Woodley after UFC 201 closed out with a bang.  Claiming peace leading up to a fight against a man reputed to bring war, Woodley suggested the only thing that made him nervous on Saturday at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, was how calm he felt. “Something told me I should just enjoy this moment,” Woodley said after becoming the ninth welterweight champion in UFC history.
Tyron Woodley took the title from UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler on Saturday night, stopping him with 2:12 left in the first round