Rafael dos Anjos beats Robbie Lawler to fuel UFC welterweight title talk

Tyron Woodley currently lacks a clear number one contender

(Getty)

Rafael dos Anjos put his name in the UFC welterweight title talk last evening with an impressive win over Robbie Lawler at UFC on Fox 26 in Winnipeg, Canada.

Dos Anjos and Lawler both came into the bout off of big wins earlier in the year and with the UFC's 170-pound champion Tyron Woodley lacking a clear number one contender, both men had the opportunity to insert themselves into pole position to compete for the title.

Lawler, the former UFC welterweight champion, had a clear size advantage over his Brazilian opponent, but dos Anjos had been the much more active of the fighter of the two over the previous 18-months. Both men had good arguments for being the favourite heading into the bout, but when the lines closed just before the action got underway, it was dos Anjos that the bookmakers favoured.

Lawler took the centre of the Octagon in the opening exchanges and he landed a clean hook as he pushed dos Anjos back. The Brazilian returned fire with three stiff leg kicks, but Lawler closed the distance and the two clinched up for a brief period against the cage.

Dos Anjos' work on the outside was impressive, but before the end of the round, Lawler did some good work up against the cage and landed some nice knees to the body.

Round two began with some wild exchanges as Lawler stalked dos Anjos down and unloaded with hooks to both the head and body up against the cage. The Brazilian managed to circle away and midway through the round, dos Anjos landed big to the body following a flying knee and he rocked Lawler who wobbled back into the cage. Dos Anjos then unloaded over 30 strikes in 23-seconds as Lawler covered up, but most of his punches hit arms and the American eventually broke away to the centre of the cage and saw the round out.

(Getty (Getty)

The third round again began with Lawler as the aggressor, but dos Anjos switched up his tactics and took him down to the mat with a nicely timed takedown. Lawler eventually got back to his feet without taking damage and he clinched dos Anjos against the cage as he began to work to the body with short punches and knees.

Just when the round looked like it was petering out, dos Anjos landed an elbow and he pushed Lawler straight to the mat. The Brazilian landed ground and pound in top position, but time ran out and Lawler made his way to his corner.

Round four began with Lawler looking to pressure, but it was dos Anjos again who was having more success with his leg kicks. Lawler's mobility was really starting to look hampered by the constant strikes to the legs and he was constantly switching his stances to avoid further punishment.

Dos Anjos' could see Lawler's movement was restricted with seconds left in the fourth he landed another flying knee and elbow to the face. Lawler's left knee was clearly hampering his movement and he headed into the fifth knowing he needed a finish.

Lawler came out swinging in the final round, but dos Anjos knew he had his man and he took his man down to the mat with ease. After a minute of inactivity, referee Herb Dean stood the fighters up and dos Anjos continued to punish Lawler on the feet against the cage.

The final 90-seconds of the fight saw Lawler continue to bravely, but dos Anjos rode out the final exchanges untroubled and in a mark of respect the two fighters let the final few seconds pass without further exchanges.

After 25 gruelling minutes, there were no surprises on the scorecards and dos Anjos was deservedly announced the winner via unanimous decision. Speaking afterwards, dos Anjos said that he'd just been the toughest man in the division and that he now deserves a title shot. Time will tell whether that will happen, but he couldn't have done more to make it a reality last evening.

Josh Emmett knocks out Ricardo Lamas

In the co-main event, Ricardo Lamas took on Josh Emmett in a fast-paced featherweight bout that well surpassed expectations. Just 36-hours before the two met in the Octagon, Emmett missed weight by 2.5 pounds and was fined 20% of his purse by the Canadian commission.

Emmett may have missed weight and had a tough weight cut, but he looked great on the night and he took the number three ranked Lamas in the first round with a sweet left hook. The Californian pushed the pace from the outset and put Lamas on the back foot. Just when it looked like the round would be closing out and heading to the second, Emmett connected with a cracking left and Lamas was unconscious before he hit the mat.

If Emmett can prove to the UFC matchmakers he can make the 145-pounds weight limit, he could well be getting a UFC title shot sooner rather than later.

A night to forget for the British fighters

Three Brits were in action as Danny Roberts, Darren Stweart and Galore Bofando all competed on the preliminary card.

Roberts suffered a 59-second knockout loss to Nordine Taleb while Bofando didn't fare much better against Chad Laprise as he also lost in the first round.

Londoner Darren Stewart put up a better fight against Julian Marquez, but after taking the fight at short notice he ran out of gas in the second round and he was submitted with a slick guillotine choke.

UFC on Fox 26 Results:

Rafael dos Anjos def. Robbie Lawler via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)

Josh Emmett def. Ricardo Lamas via KO (punch) - Round 1, 4:33

Santiago Ponzinibbio def. Mike Perry via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Glover Teixeira def. Misha Cirkunov via TKO (punches). Round 1, 2:45

Jan Blachowicz def. Jared Cannonier via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Julian Marquez def. Darren Stewart via submission (guillotine choke) - Round 2, 2:42

Nordine Taleb def. Danny Roberts via KO (punches) - Round 1, 0:59

Chad Laprise def. Galore Bofando via TKO (strikes) - Round 1, 4:10

John Makdessi def. Abel Trujillo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Alessio Di Chirico def. Oluwale Bamgbose via KO (knee) - Round 2, 2:14

Jordan Mein def. Erick Silva by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)