A New Champion Will Emerge When Johny Hendricks Meets Robbie Lawler at Ufc® 171 Saturday, March 15
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A NEW CHAMPION WILL EMERGE WHEN JOHNY HENDRICKS MEETS ROBBIE LAWLER AT UFC® 171 SATURDAY, MARCH 15 Las Vegas, Nevada – Even Ultimate Fighting Championship® title fights are bigger in Texas! Having been narrowly defeated by Georges St-Pierre in one of the most controversial decisions in UFC history, Johny Hendricks returns to face hard-hitting Robbie Lawler for the UFC welterweight championship. After a five- year reign that saw Georges St-Pierre atop the welterweight division, the champion relinquished the belt, electing to take personal time away from competition. Now the top fighters in the division square off and a new champion will be crowned at the American Airlines Center on Saturday, March 15. Currently on a three-fight win streak that includes a unanimous decision win over St-Pierre training partner Rory MacDonald (No. 3), Robbie Lawler (22-9, 1 NC, fighting out of Coconut Creek, Fla.) looks to cap off his remarkable UFC comeback with a victory over Hendricks. Vowing to return for the title, Dallas’ own (No. 1) Johny Hendricks (15-2, fighting out of Dallas), holds key victories over Jon Fitch (Knockout of the Night), Josh Koscheck, Martin Kampmann (Knockout of the Night) and Carlos Condit (Fight of the Night). Now he plans to take the belt that many believe he already earned on his home turf with friends and family in attendance. In addition, former interim welterweight champion (No. 2) Carlos Condit (29-7, fighting out of Albuquerque, N.M.) battles explosive wrestler (No.11) Tyron Woodley (12-2, fighting out of St. Louis, Mo.). Fresh off a TKO win over Martin Kampmann, for which he earned his third consecutive Fight of the Night honor, Condit looks to stall the momentum of a two-time Div. I All-American wrestler in Woodley. After securing wins over Tarec Saffiedine, Jay Hieron, and Josh Koscheck (Knockout of the Night) Woodley knows that a win over Condit will secure him a place atop the welterweight rankings and put him one step closer to a shot at the title. Also, The Ultimate Fighter® season 1 winner (No. 15) Diego Sanchez (26-6, fighting out of Albuquerque, N.M.) meets unbeaten lightweight Myles Jury (13-0, fighting out of San Diego, Calif.). After narrowly losing a 2013 “Fight of the Year” effort to former Strikeforce champion, Gilbert Melendez, Sanchez seeks a return to winning form. Jury knows a marquee victory over fan favorite Sanchez, is his ticket to the lightweight division’s top 15. Other bouts for UFC 171 include: Seventh-ranked welterweight Jake Shields (29-6-1, 1 NC) vs. heavy-handed 13th-ranked contender Hector Lombard (33-4-1, 1 NC). Explosive light heavyweight Thiago Silva (16-3-0, 2 NC) vs. heavy-handed Ovince St. Preux (14-5). The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner Kelvin Gastelum (8-0) vs. 15th- ranked welterweight contender Rick Story (16-7). The Ultimate Fighter 18 winner Julianna Pena (6-2) vs. ninth- ranked bantamweight contender Jessica Andrade (10-3). 13th-ranked featherweight Dennis Bermudez (13-3) vs. submission specialist Jimmy Hettes (11-1). Dallas’ own Sean Spencer (11-2) vs. Montreal’s Alex Garcia (11-1) in a welterweight duel. Also fighting out of Dallas, flyweight Will Campuzano (13-5) vs. Darrell Montague (13-3). A middleweight bout between The Ultimate Fighter 17 alumni Bubba McDaniel (21-7) and Sweden’s Tor Troeng (16-5-1). Tickets for UFC®171: HENDRICKS vs. LAWLER, presented by METRO PCS®, go on sale Friday, Jan. 17 at 10 a.m. CT and are priced at $350, $250, $150, $100, $75 and $50. Tickets are available for purchase at www.ticketmaster.com. Ticket sales are limited to eight (8) per person. To charge by phone with a major credit card, call Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000. Tickets are also available at the American Airlines Center box office. Ticket prices do not include applicable service charges. UFC Fight Club® members will have the opportunity to purchase tickets to this event Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 10 a.m. CT via the website www.ufcfightclub.com. A special Internet ticket pre- sale will be available to UFC newsletter subscribers Thursday, Jan. 16 starting at 10 a.m. CT. To access this presale, users must register for the UFC newsletter through UFC.com. UFC®171: HENDRICKS vs. LAWLER will be available live on Pay- Per-View at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT on UFC.TV, iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice Canada for a suggested retail price of $44.99 US/$49.99 CAN for Standard Definition and $54.99 US/$59.99 CAN for High -Definition. About the Ultimate Fighting Championship® Owned and operated by Zuffa, LLC, headquartered in Las Vegas and with offices in London, Toronto, Beijing, Singapore and Sao Paulo, UFC produces more than 35 live events annually. The UFC is the largest pay-per-view event provider in the world with events distributed residentially throughout North American cable and satellite providers including iN DEMAND, DirecTV, DISH Network, Avail-TVN, and in Canada on BellTV, Shaw Communications, Sasktel, and Viewer’s Choice. In 2012, the UFC burst into the mainstream with a landmark seven-year broadcast agreement with FOX Sports Media Group for live events and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2 including the longest-running sports reality show on television, The Ultimate Fighter®. In addition to its reach on FOX, UFC programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries, to 821 million TV households worldwide, in 28 different languages. UFC content is also distributed commercially in the United States to bars and restaurants through Joe Hand Promotions, in English throughout Canada via Premium Sports Broadcasting Inc. and Australia via Main Event and in French throughout Quebec via Interbox. The UFC also connects with tens of millions of fans through its website, UFC.com, as well as social media sites Facebook and Twitter (@UFC). UFC President Dana White is considered one of the most accessible and followed executives in sports, with more than 2.7 million followers on Twitter. UFC businesses also include over 100 UFC GYM® locations, UFC.TV offering live event broadcasts and video on demand around the world, UFC FIT™, an in-home fitness and nutrition program, UFC 360, the internationally distributed magazine, a videogame franchise with EA, DVDs and Blu-rays, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, branded apparel and Topps Trading Cards. For more information visit UFC.com..