• Tyron Woodley is now looking for big name fights to earn up before eventually retiring from active MMA fighting.

Tyron Woodley is now looking for big name fights to earn up before eventually retiring from active MMA fighting. (Photo : Getty Images/Anthony Kwan)

Tyron Woodley took the fight to Robbie Lawler at UFC 201 and the ploy worked with the 34-year-old mixed martial artist claiming the UFC welterweight title at the Philips Arena in Atlanta. Woodley needed only 2:12 in the first round to become the seventh champion in as many number of months this year.

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Woodley used a big overhand right to level Lawler right in the first round. He followed it up with hard shots that eventually forced the hand of referee Dan Miragliotta to stop the match, Forbes reported.

Woodley used his speed and explosiveness to take down Lawler who reacted sluggishly to the first series of attacks that the American mixed martial artist fired.

Lawler never got settled from the beginning. Despite the win, Woodley held off on the gloating as a sign of respect to his American Top Team teammate though he did not hide the fact that he wanted Lawler’s belt.

Moving forward, Woodley is now on the top and looking for big name fights. He mentioned a couple of familiar names in Nick Diaz and Georges St-Pierre. Plans for such will likely be in the works in the coming months though some fans held some reservations.

One is that Woodley’s title match didn’t exactly have an impressive trail. He barely made an impression when he defeated Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 183. He was scheduled to face Johny Hendricks at UFC 192 but the bout was scratched due to weight-cut related issues.

He technically sat out a total of 18 months with critics believing he cut a break by facing Lawler rather than go through Demian Maia or Stephen Thompson first before Lawler, Bleacher Report reported.

While all of that is technically water under the bridge, Woodley is looking to finish strong but make good money first before he retires. If not Nick Diaz, Nate Diaz is another name he could be lined up to fight. All that could depend on the outcome of Nate’s card with Conor McGregor set for UFC 202 on Aug. 21.

Right now, Woodley may as well savor his title win. His next opponent will likely be known in the coming months.

With UFC 202 next, Stephen Thompson asked Tyron Woodley for a title shot. The newly crowned champion, however, preferred to face Nick Diaz instead.