“What I just earned, it was taken away from me, and I swear to God it won’t happen again.”
With those words, Johny Hendricks made sure he would be the betting public’s choice the next time he stepped in the ring. It was moments after his controversial UFC 167 loss to Georges St-Pierre, who subsequently surrendered the belt to set up Saturday’s welterweight title match between Hendricks and Robbie Lawler.
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch UFC 171 preliminary fights on Sportsnet 360 Saturday starting at 8 p.m. EST
Hendricks (15-2) is currently a huge -400 favourite on the UFC 171 odds menu, according to OddsShark.com. A wrestler by trade, he has terrorized the 170-pound division with a sleep-inducing straight left and would been wearing the belt in the ring if not for some GSP-friendly judging in November.
Lawler, who has more than a puncher’s chance in this battle of hard-hitting southpaws, was a tempting +300 underdog (3-1 odds) on a card with just a hint of Canadian content. He first appeared in the Octagon back at UFC 37 in 2002, but then spent eight years outside the promotion with sporadic success.
He had lost five of eight in Strikeforce before finally making his UFC return in 2013. While some of those defeats came at the hands of top-notch foes such as Jacare Souza and Jake Shields, some losses included some uninspiring names such as Lorenz Larkin and Renato Sobral.
Many wondered if he had the dedication or motivation to challenge for a belt in the UFC, but when he arrived, he ripped through Josh Koscheck, Bobby Voelker and Rory MacDonald before the year was done.
The co-main event may decide the next challenger to the welterweight strap as perennial contender Carlos Condit (currently -185 on the UFC betting lines menu) faces Tyron Woodley, priced as a +150 underdog according to Bodog.
Condit followed up successive decision losses to Hendricks and GSP with a knockout of Martin Kampmann. He is smart and technical and employs a diverse attack, but has trouble defending takedowns.
Woodley, a beast of a man with power galore, has won impressively twice in three UFC outings since his Strikeforce days. Expect him to start quickly or risk gassing against the feverish pace Condit will push.
Alex Garcia, a Dominican fighting out of Montreal’s TriStar Gym, is the closest thing to Canadian content on this card and he is a big -400 favourite against 11-2 Sean Spencer.
There are five unbeaten fighters on the card, two of them fighting on the PPV portion of the card (13-0 Myles Jury, who is -175 against warrior Diego Sanchez, and 7-0 Kelvin Gastelum is -175 to defeat former welterweight contender Rick Story).
UFC lines and props courtesy of BestUFCOdds.com.
UFC 171 – Hendricks vs Lawler odds
Daniel Pineda -240
Robert Whiteford +190
Robert McDaniel +110
Sean Strickland -140
Will Campuzano +350
Justin Scoggins -500
Renee Forte -140
Frank Trevino +110
Sean Spencer +300
Alex Garcia -400
Jim Hettes +200
Dennis Bermudez -260
Jessica Andrade -270
Raquel Pennington +210
Rick Story +145
Kelvin Gastelum -175
Diego Sanchez +145
Myles Jury -175
Ovince St. Preux -375
Nikita Krylov +285
Jake Shields +175
Hector Lombard -225
Carlos Condit -185
Tyron Woodley +150
Johny Hendricks -400
Robbie Lawlor +300