Yet another win for UFC over boxing…you’ll understand in a minute.
Coming on the heels of the devastating news that Chris Weidman wouldn’t be fighting Vitor Belfort at UFC 181 on Dec. 6 due to a broken hand Weidman suffered in training; fight fans will be treated to a hell of a replacement main event, I.E. a fight people wanted to see. The report via Guilherme Cruz of SB Nation:
The dust had barely settled on Monday’s news that a Weidman broken hand had forced the postponement of the middleweight title fight when the UFC announced a new main event for UFC 181 at Las Vegas’ Mandalay Bay Events Center: Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler for the welterweight title. The new main event is a rematch of a bout which could still end up as 2013’s Fight of the Year when all is said and done. With the vacant title up for grabs, Hendricks and Lawler put on a 25-minute, toe-to-toe slugfest. With the title hanging in the balance going into the fifth round, Hendricks found another gear and clinched the decision.
Kudos to Dana White and UFC for delivering a great replacement event when natural circumstances altered the direction of the original event. Boxing is STILL tripping over itself “figuring out” the best way to suck up it’s remaining fans money, er, I mean deliver the Floyd Mayweather/Manny Pacquiao bout fans have been clamoring for going on 5 years now.