Looking Ahead For UFC 167 Welterweight Winners
The UFC Welterweight division is arguably the most talent deep pool in the promotion, but it has vastly changed in the wake of a very event in UFC 167. The event went down this past Saturday in Vegas and may have huge implications for the future of the 170lb. class.
Firstly there is the bout between Josh Koscheck and Tyron Woodley, which may not hold immediate title implications but it still put Woodley in a great position. T-Wood came in to the UFC with a slick KO win over Jay Heiron but was halted in his rise by Jake Shields at UFC 161, in a lacklustre affair.
Woodley came in to the UFC, albeit on a loss to Nate Marquardt in Strikeforce, on a lot of hype. He has some big names on his record and scary power at Welterweight. The win on Saturday over a veteran like Kos could be the beginning of a very bright future for ‘The Chosen One’ , as he catapulted himself in to relevance with the big win.
Potential next match? Martin Kampmann comes to mind.
Next up was the scrap between Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald. It was a truly amazing fight to watch as the veteran Lawler handled MacD’s technical style and counter with some brutal power strikes.
The win sets Lawler apart from a very stacked division, the main reason being MacDonald had recently beaten Jake Ellenberger in a contender bout. Lawler went from knocking out a game, but unranked fighter in Bobby Voelker to being talked about in title shot chatter. The only thing preventing Lawler from possibly getting the nod is the (hopefully) likely rematch between GSP and Johny Hendricks.
What should be next for Lawler? The winner of Matt Brown vs. Carlos Condit would serve as a great contender bout, considering it may be a little too early to put ‘Ruthless’ in for a title bout.
The obvious story of the evening was the pivotal match up between Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks. Regardless of how close the fight was, St-Pierre came away with the win; a win that may have been a great hindrance for the 170lb. category. Not only has GSP left the cage with a controversial decision win, he may have tied up the division indefinitely with his talk of a vacation from MMA.
The main event at UFC 167 did show us that Hendricks is for real, and a rematch seems the only logical solution; With ‘Rush’ talking of a lay off from the sport, it may be a case of a long wait until that happens. An interim title bout could be what we see eventually, in that case it would have to be Hendricks vs. Lawler and if not, the winner of Lawler vs. Condit/Brown should be next in line for the winner of GSP/Hendricks.
