Tyron Woodley became the welterweight champion after knocking out Robbie Lawler less than three minutes into their fight at UFC 201. But what did we learn?
Changing champs
Another seemingly dominant champion took a tumble over the weekend, the seventh of 2016 alone. The remarkable trend has seen TJ Dillashaw, Holly Holm, Fabricio Werdum, Luke Rockhold, Rafael dos Anjos, Miesha Tate and now Lawler lose their belts.
The overwhelming reason for such a statistic is because UFC champions are very rarely afforded a 'warm-up' fight - every time the belt is contested, the challenger is the top ranked contender in their division. It means Lawler, for example, had to earn his first title shot by beating current No 2-ranked Rory MacDonald before battling past No 9 Matt Brown to earn his second, which he won.
Since becoming champion, Lawler was immediately handed the most difficult possible assignments against MacDonald and Carlos Condit (currently No 5). Two successful defences, in this era of championship merry-go-rounds, means Lawler justified his official pound-for-pound ranking of No 4. In turn, Woodley should not expect any favours from the match-makers for his first defence.
What's the best way to fight?
The ever-changing world of MMA still hasn't provided answers as to what is the ideal way to fight - if, indeed, such a method exists. There are no nuances about Woodley's style of trying to barrel through opponents within the first round, and on the surface it appears to be a tactic that the elite fighters could prepare to defend against. Apparently not.
The likeliest next challenger Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson told Sky Sports last week: "Tyron has got that one-hitter-quitter power. You get hit once with that shot, you're going down." It sounds simplistic, but Woodley's hopes depend on his ability to land one colossal punch in the first few minutes.
Lawler, a veteran famed for his ability to improve in the latter stages of a 25-minute fight, should have had the ideal skill-set to tire out Woodley. Yet this latest upset victory proves that fighters who rely on a first-round barrage are predictable, but terrifying.
Is 'Wonderboy' next?
Thompson is listed as the No 1 contender in the welterweight rankings meaning he is almost certain to be Woodley's first challenger. "I'm hoping we can do this in Madison Square Garden," Thompson told Sky Sports referring to the November date in New York.
But there could be a spanner in the works for the rightful contender. Woodley has already signalled a desire to defend against Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz, two currently inactive welterweights who might fancy returning to the cage for a crack at the top prize. St-Pierre, the greatest 170lbs champion ever, is on a self-imposed exile which could end whenever he wants, while the suspension that has kept Diaz away will end imminently. Thompson's wait may continue.
Back to the drawing board for Pearson
Sunderland's Ross Pearson has lost back-to-back fights for the first time in his veteran career after a unanimous decision against Jorge Masvidal on his welterweight debut.
Annoyed at the manner of his previous loss to Will Brooks just three weeks ago, Pearson opted to step into a vacant spot on short-notice to get the monkey off his back. Such a roll of the dice backfired badly after a one-sided points defeat to Masvidal.
It's now been 11 fights since Pearson strung together consecutive wins and he has dropped out of the top 15 ranked lightweights, in the division that he usually operates within. Perhaps it is time to consider a less hectic schedule - this weekend was his fourth fight of 2016 but after just one win (a split decision, at that) he may benefit from more time in the gym preparing to arrest this slump in form.
Eastern forces rising
Karolina Kowalkiewicz earned her finest win to date, out-pointing the much-fancied Rose Namajunas, to likely set up a women's straw-weight title fight against Polish compatriot Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
It's a strange quirk that the two top contenders at 115lbs are from Poland but, with both sporting unbeaten records, they could bring their tussle to Europe before the end of 2016. Kowalkiewicz's rise is testament to European fighters' worthiness on the world stage in the newest weight division.