The UFC welterweight title will be on the line Saturday night in Las Vegas, when champion Robbie Lawler (26-10, 1 no-decision) battles No. 4 contender and former interim champ Carlos Condit (30-8) in the main event at UFC 195.
The UFC 195 betting line has moved in the challenger’s favor to a pick ’em after Lawler opened as a minus-145 favorite (bet $145 to win $100) over Condit, who was a plus-115 underdog (bet $100 to win $115).
Stylistically, this matchup looks to be Lawler’s toughest test to date. He has made only one previous title defense since taking the belt away from former champ Johny Hendricks after being awarded a split decision at UFC 181 a little more than a year ago.
Lawler bloodied top contender Rory MacDonald at UFC 189 back on July 11, scoring a fifth-round TKO win via punches for his fourth consecutive victory.
Condit made a successful return to the Octagon on May 30 at UFC Fight Night 67, forcing a doctor stoppage with a TKO of Thiago Alves in Brazil. The Natural Born Killer was coming off a disappointing TKO loss to Tyron Woodley when he suffered a torn ACL in the second round of their bout at UFC 171 on March 15, 2014.
Prior to that setback, he had dropped two of three both by unanimous decision in high-profile fights against Hendricks in a title eliminator at UFC 158 in March 2013 and against former champ Georges St-Pierre to unify the belts at UFC 154 in November 2012.
The co-main event at UFC 195 could very well produce the next challenger for the heavyweight title belt between No. 2 Andrei Arlovski (25-10, 1 no-decision) and No. 3 Stipe Miocic (13-2).
UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum is currently scheduled to face former champ Cain Velasquez in a rematch at UFC 196 on Feb. 6 in Las Vegas.
Arlovski, who is listed as a plus-175 underdog despite being the higher-ranked fighter, hopes to get the next title shot if he can extend his six-bout winning streak. His last four wins have taken place in the UFC following a detour in the World Series of Fighting.
Meanwhile, Miocic has won four of five, and he is a minus-225 favorite after opening at minus-250. His lone loss during that stretch came against former heavyweight champ Junior dos Santos via unanimous decision following five rounds at UFC on Fox 13 on Dec. 13, 2014.
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