Robbie Lawler (27-10) and Tyron Woodley (15-3) are two former Strikeforce fighters who have hit it big in the UFC.
On Saturday night at UFC 201 in Atlanta, reigning champion Lawler will attempt to successfully defend his welterweight championship belt for the third time as a solid -210 favorite (bet $210 to win $100) against Woodley at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.
Woodley is listed as a +170 underdog (bet $100 to win $170) on the UFC 201 betting lines and has had a long layoff despite not suffering any injuries since his last fight in January 2015. He was originally scheduled to face former welterweight champ Johny Hendricks at UFC 192 last October 3, but his opponent experienced serious issues with weight-cutting and had to pull out of the bout.
Woodley has won two in a row and four of five, with the lone loss happening two years ago at UFC 174 against Rory MacDonald via unanimous decision.
Lawler later fought MacDonald at UFC 189 last July 11 and scored a fifth-round TKO against him for his first title defense. He followed that up with a controversial split-decision win over Carlos Condit on January 2. Three of his past four wins have come by decision, with two of them seeing the judges split on the result.
Lawler’s last loss came via unanimous decision in favor of Hendricks for the vacant welterweight title belt at UFC 171 on March 15, 2014. Four of his previous six bouts have won Fight of the Night bonuses.
Flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson was supposed to face Wilson Reis in the co-main event but had to withdraw due to an undisclosed injury. Reis has remained on the UFC 201 card, though, and will be taking on Hector Sandoval as a heavy -300 favorite on the UFC odds, per Odds Shark.
The new co-main event is a women’s strawweight matchup between third-ranked Rose Namajunas (5-2) and fifth-ranked Karolina Kowalkiewicz (9-0). Despite having four fewer wins, Namajunas has more experience inside the Octagon as a former competitor on The Ultimate Fighter 20. She is a big -260 favorite, per Odds Shark, riding a three-bout winning streak, with Kowalkiewicz a +200 underdog.
Meanwhile, Kowalkiewicz is 2-0 in the UFC, and six of her previous seven fights took place in her home country of Poland.
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