Let us firstly start off with none other than the main event of the night which is Tyler Woodley vs. Robbie Lawler. It was not long ago that Woodley actually joking exclaimed that most of the welterweight division in the sport thought of Lawler as the boogey man, and when you actually think about it – can you actually blame them for perceiving Lawler as a monster? Because, the fact of the matter is that he is a beast in the octagon who has made a name for himself by putting up some of the most violent, career ending fights that we have witnessed in the UFC.
Prior to the matchup being officially announced when Lawler was doing media interviews, he was asked on more than one occasion what he thought about fighting Conor McGregor. Lawler wasted not a moment and replied confidently that even though he felt the Irish man was a good draw, things would have not been pretty for McGregor if they were to have a go at each other. The interviewer, we vividly remember, asked Lawler why it would have not been pretty for McGregor to which Lawler replied rather eerily that unlike Nate Diaz, he would not have taken just McGregor’s neck, but would have taken his soul.
This only bears further testimony to the fact that Lawler is a monster, and you know what else goes to prove this point? His professional fighting record! 16 wins to just one loss (which came on UFC fight night 171 against Johnny Hendricks and was a very closely contested fight). Lawler is attracted to violence, he lusts to fight, and this makes him especially dangerous and many experts think that it is exactly this deep seeded desire to fight which makes Lawler the incredible lean mean fighting machine that he is.
If there is someone that can take him on, it would have to be Woodley. Lawler is unquestionably intimidating, but Woodley isn’t scared and Woodley certainly isn’t one to back away from a fight. Granted, Woodley is not exactly the kind of vicious, all or nothing fighter that Lawler is, but in his own right, Woodley is a very gifted, technical fighter that, on his day, has what it takes to take Lawler down and give Lawler a taste of his own medicine.
The only concern for Woodley would be that he has been out of action for a long time and we do not know if he will come out rusty on fight night. However, Woodley is a gifted boxer who throws quick punches in lightning quick succession and can also defend himself better than Lawler on his feet.
Just for this fight alone, UFC 201 is worth tuning in to, but if that does not convince you then the rest of the fight card is very impressive too with Namajunas taking on Kowalkiewicz being one of the highlights of the night in the women’s category.
Author : Rory McGregor
