Preview: UFC 201 ‘Lawler vs. Woodley’

Ultimate Fighting Championship brass is not often in the position of keeping promises, but it kept its word to Tyron Woodley, as the 170-pound contender has remained in the title picture despite a year and a half on the sidelines. Woodley will challenge Robbie Lawler for the undisputed welterweight championship in the UFC 201 headliner on Saturday at Philips Arena in Atlanta. In the three-round co-main event, Rose Namajunas meets the unbeaten Karolina Kowalkiewicz in what amounts to a women’s strawweight title eliminator, with the winner likely moving on to face 115-pound champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk. The rest of the five-fight main card features a welterweight scrap pairing Matt Brown with Jake Ellenberger, a bantamweight clash pitting Francisco Rivera against Erik Perez and a flyweight affair matching Ian McCall with Justin Scoggins. Let us take a closer look at each UFC 201 “Lawler vs. Woodley” matchup, with analysis and picks:UFC Welterweight Championship Robbie Lawler (27-10) vs. Tyron Woodley (15-3)THE MATCHUP: Lawler’s championship reign has been anything but easy. After a narrow loss to Johny Hendricks in his first UFC title shot, Lawler claimed the belt from Hendricks in their rematch — in another close fight. His first defense was an all-time classic, a war with Rory MacDonald in which Lawler saved himself from a decision loss with a fifth-round knockout. Lawler’s most recent bout was yet another back-and-forth struggle that saw him once again surge in the fifth round to keep the belt out of Carlos Condit’s hands. Everyone loves exciting fights, but the regularity with which Lawler has found himself on the brink of defeat is troubling. It hints at a decline, which, after 15 years of hard fights, would not be so surprising. Worse is the fact that …

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