The UFC is doing its best to pretend it doesn’t remember that Georges St-Pierre ever existed.
Luckily, it has two pretty hot commodities helping it rebound from the heartache.
It had to hurt to lose GSP, not only the UFC welterweight champion but its biggest pay-per-view attraction and brightest star. You could tell in the promotion’s reaction to the breakup: It proclaimed that the machine would crank on unabated. It’d fill the void.
Now, a couple months after St-Pierre took his indefinite leave and vacated his title, here are Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler. Both are enjoying big success in the UFC. Both have super-sexy knockout-seeking styles. Either would be perfectly serviceable arm candy on which one could drape one’s suddenly ownerless golden finery.
We will see if they can justify the love in the main event of UFC 171, going down Saturday from Dallas. It’s just the topmost point of a stacked slate, which carries intrigue from Fight Pass to finale.
Here are information capsules, predictions and viewing coordinates for all 13 contests on the card.