Johny Hendricks Meets Robbie Lawler For The Vacant UFC Welterweight Belt

Who will be crowned the new UFC Welterweight Champion? and is this the right match up?

by Tommy Strong @strong_tea

With the news that current UFC Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will vacate his title and take an indefinite leave of absence from the sport. Everyone was wondering, what would happen next?

Well, in true Dana White style it wasn't long before we found out!  Dana announced soon after that Johny Hendricks would be fighting Robbie Lawler for the vacant Welterweight bout which will be the main event for UFC 171, taking place in Dallas, Texas on the 15th March 2014.

Hendricks (15-2 MMA,10-2 UFC) who probably still can't believe he isn't already the welterweight champion after losing in controversial fashion to GSP in a razor thin split decision only last month at UFC 167. However, the news of this title shot surely would've eased the pain of that loss, knowing he will have the chance once again to win the title, this time in his own backyard!!

Many felt a little surprised that the opportunity would fall at the feet of Robbie Lawler (22-9-1 MMA,7-3UFC) having fought in Strikeforce prior and having a 3-5 record in his 8 fights with the organisation, you would've had to be mystic meg to try and predict what would happen next!!

He'd enter the UFC and in doing so, moving down from middleweight to welterweight, he'd  knock out the durable Josh Koscheck inside the first round on his return, following that up with a stunning KO over Bobby Voelker. Then to top things off being matched up with the fighter that many believed would go onto emulate GSP one day, and hold the welterweight belt for years to come. Lawler put on one of this best performances to date with a clinical display outscoring Rory MacDonald to win via split decision at UFC 167 in November.

Lets be honest here,  we've seen a fair few 'undeserving' title fights over the years, and more recently Chael Sonnen getting a title shot at light heavyweight when the last time he fought there was 2005!!
Yes you could make arguments for a few other fighters to get their chance, but here and now this is in my eyes is the perfect match up!

Lets look at a few other fighters in the frame:

Carlos Condit: 
Coming off Losses to GSP for the title and then Johny Hendricks more recently, it would be hard to gift him a title shot after getting back to winning ways beating Martin Kampmann via TKO.
A win against a Tyron Woodley will surely put him back into title contention.

Rory MacDonald: 
If he'd beaten Robbie Lawler there's no doubt we would've seen Hendricks vs MacDonald! Though this defeat is a setback for the young man! Up next for Rory is a really tough battle when he faces Demian Maia at UFC 170.

Jake Ellenberger: 
Seems to be the 'nearly man' Super talented fighter who just come up short when he's been in great positions. More recently losing via unanimous decision to Rory MacDonald in what will go down as a stinker. He's a couple fights away from being in the mix.

Jake Shields: 
Could arguably be in the frame if not for failing a drugs test after defeating Ed Herman at UFC 150. Though this was at middleweight he would've now been on a 4 fight winning streak since losing back to back fights against GSP (for the title) and Jake Ellenberger.

Since returning from his ban, Jake has done what he does best, grinds wins out with victories over Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia both via split decision.

The biggest downfall for Jake is his style of fighting which doesn't appeal to the masses.

Matt Brown: 
The guy I feel for the most here. Brown scheduled to fight Carlos Condit only this week had to pull out due to an injury, will now see the chances of him getting closer to that title shot fading away. Now Carlos has a fight with Tyron Woodley lined up, where does this leave Brown who is currently sat on a 6 fight winning streak?!!

I for one hope he gets a fight that pushing him closer to the title and up the rankings! Jake Ellenberger?

Whether you agree or disagree with Hendricks vs Lawler fighting for the vacant welterweight belt, I think there is one thing we will all agree upon.....

With two southpaws who love to throw bombs and both posses frightening punching power we can only imagine this fight isn't going the distance!!!