Robbie Lawler’s reign of violence continued on Saturday night. He and challenger Carlos Condit took part in what is already being called an instant classic. Their welterweight championship bout at UFC 195 was filled with back and forth action and saw a fifth round for the ages.

It was Lawler who took home the controversal split decision victory to retain his title but the outcome seemed to take a backseat to the display of heart and toughness from both Condit and Lawer.

Condit was able to score a knock down in the first round and used his length and diverse striking to keep Lawler guessing as to his next move. Lawler would land the occasional big shot and even scored a knock down of his own. The bout was shaping into be a battle between the volume of strikes from Condit and the significant strikes landed from Lawler.

That pattern would continue throughout the middle rounds but it was the fifth round that sent this bout onto a different level. Lawler and his corner felt that the champion was behind on the scorecards and he came out for the fifth round looking to end the fight.

Condit threw combinations to try and push Lawler back but the champion was relentless and kept pushing forward. Lawler landed a huge right hand as Condit moved toward the fence. As Lawler drew closer Condit continued to throw a flurry of strikes but the champ just continued to walk through them. Lawler than landed a big left that sent Condit’s head whipping back. Lawler smelled the blood and tried all he could to finish the bout. Condit showed just how tough of a chin he has as he threw back his own series of strikes. Both men continued to throw punches until the bell mercifully sounded to end the fight.

Immediately after the fight both men put their arms over the top of the cage to catch their breaths. Both fighters left everything they had inside the octagon and 2016 already has a front runner for fight of the year.

Main Card Results:

• Welterweight Championship: Robbie Lawler def. Carlos Condit via split decision
• Stipe Miocic def. Andrei Arlovski via TKO in Round 1 at 0:54
• Albert Tumenov def. Lorenz Larkin via split decision
• Brian Ortega def. Diego Brandao via submission in Round 3 at 1:37
• Abel Trujillo def. Tony Sims via submission in Round 1 at 3:18

Preliminary Card Results: 

• Michael McDonald def. Masanori Kanehara via submission in Round 2 at 2:09
• Alex Morono def. Kyle Noke via split decision
• Justine Kish def. Nina Ansaroff via unanimous decision
• Drew Dober def. Scott Holtzman via unanimous decision
• Dustin Poirier def. Joseph Duffy via unanimous decision
• Michinori Tanaka def. Joe Soto via split decision
• Sheldon Westcott def. Edgar Garcia via TKO in Round 1 at 3:12