After the earth shaking news that now former UFC welterweight champion Georges St Pierre would be vacating his title we did not have to wait long at all to find out who gets the opportunity to fill his shoes. During the conference call addressing GSP’s situation, Dana White announced that Robbie Lawler will meet Johny Hendricks for the vacant 170 pound title.
Hendricks of course must be at least somewhat disappointed that he does not get to seek redemption against the greatest welterweight in our sport’s history. He can be satisfied thought that despite the close loss, he will once again get an opportunity to lay claim to being the best welterweight currently in the game.
Who could have written the story any better for Robbie Lawler. He returns to the UFC after being in Strikeforce and wrecks shop on every opponent he’s faced. After losing to Lorenz Larkin in his Strikeforce finale, Lawler has two knockouts and a much deserved split decision win over Rory MacDonald. His style coupled with Hendricks makes for a fight that fans will go crazy for.
UFC 171 takes place at the United Airlines Arena in Dallas, Texas on March 15th and is headlined by the light heavyweight title fight between champ Jon Jones and Glover Teixeira.
Here is the card so far:
- Champ Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira
- Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler
- Hector Lombard vs. Jake Shields
- Myles Jury vs. Diego Sanchez
- Ovince St. Preux vs. Thiago Silva
- Robert McDaniel vs. Tor Troeng
- Alex Garcia vs. Sean Spencer