If you are a fan of the Welterweight division in the UFC then UFC 171 is a great card for you. With GSP vacating his title to take some “me” time the Welterweight division is really kind of up for grabs and this card has the ability to really shake up the division. The event is taking place in Dallas at American Airlines Center and there are 5 Welterweight fights on the card, including 3 of the 5 main card fights.
The main event sees Johny Hendricks take on Robbie Lawler for the vacant UFC Welterweight title. Hendricks will be a big favourite after many fans believed that he beat GSP in the UFC 167 fight. The other big fights include Carlos Condit vs Tyron Woodley and Jake Shields vs Hector Lombard, both at Welterweight.
Let’s get to it with my picks:
Johny Hendricks vs Robbie Lawler
Hendricks will win this one via knockout. He’s not going to make the same mistake again and let the fight go to the judges. I think Hendricks is a better striker than Lawler, but he may well take the fight to the ground in order to use his superior wrestling to put Lawler in awkward positions. Either way I still think Hendricks will win via ground and pound or straight up knockout on the feet. The odds for taking Hendricks via knockout are much better than just taking him to win the fight so I’m going that route.
Pick Hendricks via KO +115 at 5Dimes.
Carlos Condit vs Tyron Woodley
The Natural Born Killer will win this fight and set up a rematch with Hendricks for the final. Condit has only ever lost to GSP and Hendricks and he did damage in both of those fights. I don’t really understand why Woodley is getting the shot against Condit when Shields beat him less than a year ago and Shields is fighting a lower ranked opponent. I guess the devastating knockout of Josh Koscheck carries a lot of weight for the UFC. This will be an exciting fight, but Condit will find a way to win.
Pick Condit -160 at BetOnline.
Jake Shields vs Hector Lombard
Like I said Shields is just not taken seriously by the UFC or by the fans. He is basically on a four fight winning streak (his win over Ed Herman was changed to no contest) with wins over Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia in his last two fights (albeit split decision wins). This guy just finds ways to win fights. He’s an underdog against Hector Lombard who has really never beat anyone of Shields quality. He lost to Yushin Okami two fights ago and Okami was released from the UFC a fight later. He beat Nate Marquardt via knockout in his last fight, but Marquardt is not what he used to be and that was his third loss in a row. I cannot fathom why Shields is an underdog here and I’m taking him to win for sure.
Pick Shields +180.
Carlos Condit • Hector Lombard • Jake Shields • Johny Hendricks • Robbie Lawler • Tyron Woodley • UFC Betting