TONIGHT’S MAIN EVENT at UFC 201 has the potential to be a cracker, but regardless of his opponent, that’s invariably the case when Robbie Lawler is involved.
Even though he’s been in possession of the belt for over 18 months, it can still be hard to process the fact that Lawler — who debuted for the UFC 14 years ago and was cut by the promotion just two years later — is now the top welterweight in the world.
But since he dethroned Johny Hendricks in December 2014, Lawler has shown that he’s worthy of that title by emerging victorious from a couple of epic encounters — against Rory MacDonald last July and Carlos Condit back in January.
Having not fought since a January 2015 win over Kelvin Gastelum due to a combination of injuries and the withdrawal of his last scheduled opponent [Hendricks], Tyron Woodley is perhaps fortunate to be competing for the title while the likes of Condit, Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson and Demian Maia watch on from the sidelines.
However, the former All-American wrestler will be keen to make the most of the opportunity he’s been pursuing since he, along with Lawler and many others, migrated to the UFC from Strikeforce in February 2013.
Lawler is a 4/6 favourite against Woodley (6/5), but 2016 has been another good year for underdogs in UFC title bouts, with belts having already changed hands on six separate occasions since January. Can Woodley continue that trend?
It might not be the most-star studded pay-per-view bill the UFC has ever assembled, but there are still some excellent match-ups on tonight’s card. However, it has been detrimentally affected by the loss of two important flyweight bouts.
Demetrious Johnson’s defence of the 125lbs title against Wilson Reis was originally due to be the co-headliner, but an injury to the champion means that Reis will take on Hector Sandoval on the prelims instead.
The exciting Justin Scoggins was scheduled to open the main card against Ian McCall, but that fight fell through on Thursday night due to complications with Scoggins’ weight-cut. Nevertheless, there’s still plenty to look forward to.
Rose Namajunas and Karolina Kowalkiewicz could be competing for the next shot at strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Matt Brown — who faces Jake Ellenberger — seldom doesn’t deliver when it comes to entertainment, while Ed Herman versus Nikita Krylov and Ross Pearson versus Jorge Masvidal are the standout bouts on the prelims.
Who will win tonight’s UFC 201 main event?
Poll Results:
UFC 201
Main card (3am, BT Sport 2)
Robbie Lawler vs. Tyron Woodley
Rose Namajunas vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Matt Brown vs. Jake Ellenberger
Francisco Rivera vs. Erik Perez
Ryan Benoit vs. Fredy Serrano
TV prelims (1am, BT Sport 2)
Ed Herman vs. Nikita Krylov
Ross Pearson vs. Jorge Masvidal
Anthony Hamilton vs. Damian Grabowski
Wilson Reis vs. Hector Sandoval
Fight Pass prelims (12am, UFCFightPass.com)
Michael Graves vs. Bojan Velickovic
Cesar Arzamendia vs. Damien Brown
