The UFC threw what some fans thought was a little bit of a curveball earlier this week by booking two former champs against each other in a rematch.
After losing the welterweight title to Kamaru Usman nearly a month ago, Tyron Woodley (19-4-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) will rematch the man he took the belt from in 2016, Robbie Lawler (28-13 MMA, 13-7 UFC), in the UFC on ESPN 4 main event.
UFC on ESPN 4 takes place June 29 at Target Center in Minneapolis. The card airs on ESPN following early prelims on ESPN+.
Woodley, No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA welterweight rankings, took the title from No. 9-ranked Lawler by first-round knockout at UFC 201 in July 2016. He defended the belt four times before dropping it to Usman at UFC 235.
Woodley recently expressed interest in a matchup with Conor McGregor, but McGregor announced his retirement earlier this week.
Woodley will attempt to make it 2-0 against Lawler, who has dropped three of four fights, including their first meeting. Lawler is coming off a controversial technical submission loss to Ben Askren at UFC 235, and though UFC President Dana White expressed interest in an immediate rematch, the organization has instead opted to move in a different direction by pitting him against Woodley for a second time.
So in our latest Daily Debate question, we wondered if this fight is the one you wanted to see next for Woodley – or if you think the UFC should have booked him against someone else, like Santiago Ponzinibbio, or maybe a third fight with Stephen Thompson, whom he has a majority decision win over and a majority draw with in title fights.
The results (via Twitter):
To hear the MMA Junkie Radio crew weigh in, watch the video above.
For more on UFC on ESPN 4, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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