Tonight at 6:00 p.m. ET the preliminary fights will get underway from Dallas, Texas, at UFC 171 which is headlined by a welterweight title fight between Johny "Bigg Rigg" Hendricks and Robbie Lawler. Live stream the early preliminary bouts here prelim fights for free by clicking this link, then head here for the main card.
Hendricks and Lawler are battling for the vacant UFC welterweight strap, which was controversially retained by Georges St. Pierre the last time Hendricks was inside the octagon. Hendricks had a scare this week when he missed weight, but on a second attempt made the limit.
"Yeah, it was [a surprise]," Hendricks told Joe Rogan after weighing too much initially. "We'll see what happens." He then headed back to his hotel to work off the necessary weight, and then returned a half hour before necessary to weigh in properly.
The weight may be an issue for Bigg Rigg, who according to strength coach Mike Dolce typically walks around at 200 lbs. "He's a big man who weighs well over 200 pounds and it takes a Herculean effort to get him down to 170," Dolce said. "It wouldn't surprise me if you see him at middleweight some day."
While Hendricks' name exploded after pounding GSP, Robbie Lawler is somewhat of a forgotten man in the equation. Lawler is a noted brawler, and even though Hendricks packs a powerful punch engaging Lawler in a slugfest could end badly.
"My story is the guy who came in and had a lot of talent but just didn't do as well as he should have," Lawler told ESPN.com. "The thing is that I just kept at it. Even when I wasn't winning, I believed there were great things in store for me."
Main Card:
Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler
Carlos Condit vs. Tyron Woodley
Diego Sanchez vs. Myles Jury
Jake Shields vs. Hector Lombard
Ovince St. Preux vs. Nikita Krylov
Prelims:
Kelvin Gastelum vs. Rick Story
Raquel Pennington vs. Jessica Andrade
Dennis Bermudez vs. Jimy Hettes
Sean Spencer vs. Alex Garcia
Fight Pass Prelims
Renee Forte vs. Francisco Trevino
Will Campuzano vs. Justin Scoggins
Bubba McDaniel vs. Sean Strickland
Daniel Pineda vs. Robert Whiteford
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