‘RUTHLESS’ ROBBIE LAWLER is the new UFC welterweight champion after a narrow split decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 181 in Las Vegas on Saturday night.

“It has been an amazing journey,” Lawler said as he got revenge for his five-round loss in March.

It couldn’t have been much closer. Both men thought they had won it:

The judges scored it 48-47, 47-48, 49-46 in Lawler’s favour. Here’s the official scorecard via MMAFighting.com:

Two judges, Sal D’Amato and Marcos Rosales, scored Rounds 1 and 5 for Lawler, and 2 and 3 for Hendricks, differing only on the fourth.

The third judge, Glenn Trowbridge, had Lawler winning four of the five rounds and only gave Hendricks the third.

It’s not the first time Hendricks has been on the wrong end of a narrow split decision in a title fight either. Many felt that he did enough to beat the then-champion Georges St-Pierre in November 2013 but lost on the judges’ cards.

“For some reason, out here in Vegas I don’t get the win,” he said.

UFC 181 – Main Card results

• Robbie Lawler def Johny Hendricks SD (48-47, 47-48, 49,46)
• Anthony Pettis def Gilbert Melendez SUB 2 (1:53)
• Travis Browne def Brendan Schaub TKO 1 (4:50)
• Todd Duffee def Anthony Hamilton KO 1 (0:33)
• Tony Ferguson def Abel Trujillo SUB 2 (4:19)

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