Woodley earns SD over Gastelum

— -- LAS VEGAS -- All is well that ends well for UFC welterweight Tyron Woodley.

Woodley (15-3) earned a narrow split decision against Kelvin Gastelum in the co-main event of UFC 183 on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Judges scored the bout in favor of Woodley: 30-27, 29-28 and 28-29. The bout was placed in jeopardy the day before, when Gastelum (10-1) encountered medical issues trying to make weight. He eventually came in 9 pounds overweight for the welterweight contest.

The two sides negotiated and came to an agreement to salvage the bout. According to UFC officials, Gastelum was fined 30 percent of his fight purse, which would go to Woodley.

Immediately after the result was read, however, Woodley said he did not wish to take Gastelum's cut.

"He's a young kid. He didn't fail to make that weight on his own," Woodley said. "He lost this fight. That's punishment enough. Whatever the commission was going to take from this kid, I don't want it. I've been on a table crying because I couldn't pay my bills. Best of luck to him."

Woodley won the bout on the merits of his counter-punching. He dealt with Gastelum's bullish style well, especially early, by weaving in and out of the southpaw's strikes while finding a home for his counter right hand.

He buckled Gastelum's knees with a right hand in the second round. A low leg kick by Woodley nearly spun Gastelum around in the center of the cage, and another counter-right hand snapped his head back in what was without question Woodley's strongest frame.

Gastelum turned up his pressure in the final round, while Woodley seemed content to hang back and rely on his earlier work. With blood coming down his face from a cut near his left eye, Gastelum took the center of the cage and let his hands go on Woodley, who kept his back to the fence.

Gastelum failed to land a significant shot, however, and Woodley emerged from the bout mostly unscathed.

After missing weight for the second time in three fights, Gastelum is expected to move to the middleweight division. He won The Ultimate Fighter reality series at that weight in 2013. Woodley improves to 4-1 in his past five fights.

Iaquinta takes out Lauzon

Lightweight Al Iaquinta put away arguably his toughest test to date -- and he did it inside two rounds.

Iaquinta (11-3-1) put Joe Lauzon away via TKO at 3:44 of the second round. It marks the sixth knockout of the 27-year-old's career.

"I was taking my time at the end there," Iaquinta said. "I know I could have done that all night, so he was either going to go down, or the referee was going to step in. I just kept him in that state and waited for the ref to make that decision. I'm happy with my performance and very thankful for my team. I'm getting better every time I step out there."

A right hand knocked Lauzon (24-10) down midway through the round. He was able to get back to his feet, which might have actually been a bad thing -- as Iaquinta showed great composure in walking Lauzon down and hitting him with one right hand after another until referee Marc Goddard stopped the fight with Lauzon still standing.

It was a typical Lauzon affair, as the Bridgewater, Massachusetts, native got on Iaquinta early. He stunned his opponent with a blitz of punches during one exchange and landed one right cross hard to Iaquinta's chin. That visibly got his attention.

Iaquinta held up to the early shots, however, and slowly started to find his rhythm as the fight progressed. He found the range on his jab and started to go hard to the body with a couple left hooks.

Late in the round, Lauzon landed a nice knee to the body and caught Iaquinta in a guillotine as he shot in for a takedown. Iaquinta defended the submission well, peeled off to the side and got back to his feet.

Iaquinta clearly established himself on the feet in the second round, and it was only a matter of time before he landed something significant. He worked the jab to the body and head and eventually set up the overhand right that set up the finish.

Runner up on The Ultimate Fighter 15 reality series, Iaquinta moves to 6-2 in the UFC. Fighting out of Serra-Longo Fight Team, he has now won three consecutive bouts. Lauzon, who fought just once in 2014, saw a two-fight win streak snapped.

Leites battles past Boetsch

The resurgence of middleweight Thales Leites continues -- though not without some effort in this latest win.

Leites (25-4) extended his win streak to eight in a row in a gutsy, second-round submission against Tim Boetsch. Referee John McCarthy stopped the fight at 3:45 of the round, due to an arm-triangle.

"My game plan was to stand and trade with him, but he hit me hard in the first round and was closing distance fast," Leites said. "I still wanted to show that I have good standup too, but then he hit me hard again, so I said, 'Man, only jiu-jitsu from here on out' -- and it was great. I got the win using my [jiu-jitsu] background."

Each middleweight got his shots in during a wild first round that nearly saw a knockout finish for Boetsch (18-8). Late in the round, Boetsch slipped a Leites punch and connected with a left hook, right hand, left hook combination that had the Brazilian veteran reeling.

Leites ultimately fell over from the shots but managed to scramble into a defensive position and survive 10 seconds of Boetsch swarming on him to see the second round.

The two continued to stand and trade in the pocket after the break. It was Boetsch who once again got the better of it by blocking a Leites combination and coming back with a left hook to the head. Dazed, Leites managed to tie Boetsch up and drop for a double-leg takedown near the fence.

Perhaps tired from two near-finishes, Boetsch offered very little resistance off his back. Leites isolated the middleweight's left arm and worked for an arm triangle. When Boetsch managed to shake off the submission attempt, Leites calmly switched sides and attacked the right arm with the same submission.

Boetsch refused to tap but went out from the choke but prompted McCarthy to step in.

Leites, 33, who challenged Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title in April 2009, is now 4-0 since re-signing with the UFC in 2013. Prior to that, he accumulated a 6-1 record outside the promotion. Boetsch falls to 2-4 in his past six appearances.

Alves outlasts Mein

If Thiago Alves could just get in a cage more often, he's still capable of some big things in it.

Alves (21-9) weathered an early storm from Jordan Mein before landing a vicious right kick to the body that finished the fight. Referee Herb Dean stopped the bout at 0:39 of the second round.

"In the second round, my coach told me to punch and kick at the same time, so I could break that gap," Alves said. "He's a little bit taller than me, so I had trouble closing the distance in the first round. I'd like to stay a lot more active and fight at least two more times this year."

It was only Alves' second appearance since March 2012. The 31-year-old welterweight has struggled to stay in the Octagon, due to a laundry list of injuries the past three years.

The American Top Team product might have needed to shake off a little rust early, as Mein (29-10) had a field day picking his shots in the opening round. He hit Alves with left uppercuts, right hands and nasty elbows on the feet -- all while avoiding Alves' signature leg kicks.

Looking to set a high pace, Mein walked into an Alves right hand at one point, but he ate the shot well and opened up on the Brazilian moments later, after trapping him against the fence.

Immediate cageside stats counted 37 total strikes landed for Mein in the opening round, compared to 16 for Alves.

A veteran of the UFC since 2005, Alves maintained his composure, however, and required only the one opening to finish the fight. The finish came just seconds after Mein awkwardly somersaulted away from Alves after being backed up to the fence.

It is the 12th knockout win of Alves' career. He is now on a two-fight win streak. He defeated Seth Baczynski via unanimous decision in April 2014.

Tate bounces back to upset McMann

Former title contender Miesha Tate overcame a terrible start en route to an upset win over  Sara McMann.

Tate (16-5) went down in the first round from a straight right but turned things around late in the second round. She dominated the final round against McMann (8-2) and earned a majority decision via scores of 29-28, 29-27 and 28-28. ESPN.com scored the bout 29-28 for Tate.

"I hurt my eye pretty badly in the first round, when she dropped me with that overhand," Tate said. "I think it may be my orbital [bone], but I'm not sure. It was pretty difficult to see after that. I was hurt so I just hung on for dear life and tried to gather my wits so that I could come back in the later rounds."

An Olympic silver medalist wrestler, McMann showcased improved standup in the opening frame. She staggered Tate with a clean right hand and continued to rough her up on the floor from top position. Usually comfortable to work out of her opponent's guard, McMann passed Tate's and eventually moved into side control before the end of the round.

McMann's boxing continued to look good in the second round, though Tate managed to draw her into more even exchanges than she had in the first.

A right hand by Tate hurt McMann late in the round and forced her to dive in on a double-leg. Tate caught McMann in a tight guillotine, which she worked for a good minute before finally giving up.

The decisive third round began with a swarm by Tate. McMann threw her to the ground in a hip toss, but Tate beat the wrestler in an ensuing scramble and ended up on top. Tate put on a grappling clinic from there by working a couple of kimura attempts and looking to put McMann in a crucifix.

Immediate cageside stats showed Tate out-landed McMann in total strikes 75-to-44.

Tate, who has twice fought current UFC champion Ronda Rousey, improved to 3-0 since coming up short in a UFC title fight in December 2013. McMann falls to 1-2 in her past three fights. She suffered a 66-second knockout loss to Rousey in February.

Brunson handles Herman

Derek Brunson handed Ed Herman the quickest loss of his nearly 12-year career in the form of a 36-second TKO.

Brunson (13-3) wobbled Herman moments into the fight with a straight left. After Herman (22-11) fell to the floor and turtled up, Brunson followed with right hands from his back until referee Mark Smith stopped the middleweight contest.

It is the second fastest victory of the 31-year-old Brunson's career. He scored a 14-second knockout in his fourth professional fight in 2010.

"That's [a] real good to get a win that way," Brunson said. "Ed is a tough guy. I know we had words, but he's a guy I really respect. He's a veteran of this sport."

The 185-pound bout had originally been scheduled to take place in December, but Brunson was forced to withdraw the night of the fight due to food poisoning. Brunson has now won four of his past five, with the lone loss coming to Yoel Romero in January 2014.

A UFC fighter since 2006, Herman suffers his first loss since November 2013. He appeared only once in 2014 and defeated  Rafael Natal via unanimous decision in May.

Lineker win marred by weight issues

John Lineker had hoped a win over Ian McCall would send him to the UFC flyweight championship. It will likely send him to the 135-pound division instead.

Lineker (25-7) scored a unanimous decision against Ian McCall by earning judges' scores of 29-28. It was an impressive performance unfortunately marred by Lineker's inability to make weight.

"I thought the fight went well," Lineker said. "I was able to execute the game plan that my coaches established for me, and that's what allowed me to win tonight."

"Obviously, after missing weight again I understand that I have to move up in weight class," he continued. "I just can't get seem to get it together and properly cut [weight]. I'm convinced that it's a psychological thing, but regardless, I have to move up. I'm looking forward to new challenges wherever they may be."

During Friday's official UFC 183 weigh-in, Lineker missed the 126-pound max by 4 pounds, coming in at 130. He forfeited 30 percent of his purse to McCall (13-5-1) for the infraction.

It was the fourth time Lineker had failed to make weight in the UFC.

McCall clearly took the first round by powering through Lineker on a double leg attempt and spending the majority of the frame in top position. He did not do a lot of damage but scored points with short punches to the body and a few elbows out of Lineker's half-guard. Lineker did attempt a leg lock late, but McCall escaped before the end of the round.

Momentum swung very much in Lineker's favor in the second frame, however, as he did well stuffing McCall's takedowns and started to land clubbing right hands to the body. The Brazilian got a guillotine choke in deep, after McCall shot on a single leg but couldn't quite produce a tap.

The final round looked similar to the second. McCall attempted numerous takedowns but couldn't find a way to get Lineker to the ground. Lineker dropped McCall briefly with a left hook to the chin and opened a cut near his left eye in the ensuing exchange.

Near the end of the bout, Lineker motioned toward his belly in a gesture to apparently make light of the fact that he missed weight. UFC president Dana White said Friday he would force Lineker to move to bantamweight. The win was Lineker's sixth as a UFC flyweight.