Five reasons to watch UFC 201: Lawler vs. Woodley
Two of the hardest-hitting welterweights under the UFC banner will take the Octagon on Saturday night as Robbie Lawler defends his belt against Tyron Woodley in the UFC 201 main event. That fight is a treat in itself, but the card is also features tons of other exceptional matchups and storylines.
Here are five reasons we’ll be watching UFC 201 on Saturday night.
UFC welterweight champion has been on an incredible run since returning to the UFC in 2013. He’s won eight of his last nine during that span, and his last three title fights have been all-out wars and Fight of the Year candidates.
During his near two-year, three-fight title run, Lawler has landed 294 significant strikes while grinding his way past former champions Carlos Condit and Johny Hendricks along the way. However, he’s absorbed 373 significant strikes for his trouble.
It’ll be interesting to see whether Lawler has yet another war in him Saturday against Woodley.
The strawweight bout between action fighters Rose Namajunas and Karolina Kowalkiewicz could very well determine the next challenger to Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s belt. Namajunas has won three straight fights, including two by submission, while Kowalkiewicz has decisively won both of her UFC bouts to move her overall record to 9-0.
Both fighters will push the pace from the opening bell, and based on their previous performances the winner will likely do so in impressive fashion and could get a title shot.
Nikita Krylov is a UFC light heavyweight star in the making, and his skills will be on full display on Saturday night against Ed Herman. The 24-year-old Krylov is 5-2 inside the Octagon but hasn’t lost since March 2014. “The Miner” has finished his last four fights and has only been outside of the first round twice.
Another impressive, early finish would surely group Krylov with the likes of Rashad Evans, Shogun Rua and Ovince Saint Preux in the light heavyweight top 10.
Jake Ellenberger is just 1-5 in his last six fights, but the longtime welterweight can honestly say he’s been fighting the best 170-pounders in the world. Since 2013, Ellenberger has fought and lost against Rory MacDonald, Robbie Lawler, Kelvin Gastelum, Stephen Thompson and Tarec Saffiedine. The current champ, three title contenders and a former Strikeforce titleholder.
It doesn’t get any easier Saturday when he takes on gritty welterweight Matt Brown, and he’ll need a strong win if he wants to re-enter the top 15 and get back on track.
If you're reading this, you probably enjoy watching people get punched in the face. And if you enjoy watching people get punched in the face, you're going to love the welterweight fight between talented boxers Ross Pearson and Jorge Masvidal.
Pearson has landed 77 percent of his total strikes while standing, compared to 67 percent Masvidal. So they’ll likely want to keep the fight on the feet for as long as they can.
