Johny Hendricks Vs. Robbie Lawler Set For Vacant Welterweight Title At UFC 171

With the announcement that UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will be vacating his belt to step away from MMA for the time being, the search is on for a new 170-pound champion.

And it appears that we won’t have to wait long. Unanimous number one contender Johny Hendricks will face off with surging Robbie Lawler for the vacant welterweight crown at UFC 171 on March 15 in Dallas, Texas.

There’s no doubt that the fight features two of the hardest-hitting and most talented welterweights in the world. But there is one man who may not be all that excited at the announcement and that man is former interim welterweight champ Carlos Condit.

Condit was scheduled to face Matt Brown at tomorrow’s UFC on Fox 9 but “The immortal” was forced from the event with a serious back injury, leaving Condit without an opponent. He’s currently ranked a spot above “Ruthless,” and it could definitely be said that Condit received the slight here.

“The Natural Born Killer” famously took Hendricks to the limit at last March’s UFC 158. Despite “Bigg Rigg” taking him down an alarming 12 times, Condit was getting back up effectively and pushing the pace when the fight ended after three rounds.

It could be argued that Condit would have easily won the fight had it lasted five rounds.

In any case, Hendricks and Lawler will square off for the belt. White described the fighters’ reactions:

“Johny Hendricks went absolutely crazy, and Lawler went about as crazy as he can go.”

That’s a sentiment that will most likely be echoed by fans come March. The fight will join the light heavyweight title fight between champion Jon Jones and Glover Teixeira.

Thoughts on the blockbuster announcement?

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