The UFC is having a great time since the exodus of GSP from the Welterweight division. Yes, Johny Hendricks held the title for a brief time, but it has been all Robbie Lawler since then. Lawler has been through a murders row since his return to the UFC having foughtJosh Koscheck, Johny Hendricks twice, Matt Brown, former champion Carlos Condit and GSP protege Rory MacDonald twice. It is MacDonald that is just been lined up for a huge fight that could instantly put him back in title contention. According to Joe Rogan, on his podcast he kind of leaked that MacDonald may be facing off with currently surging Welterweight Stephen Thompson in his next fight.
MacDonald was always near a title shot, and in fact, the first fight with lawler was to determine the number one contender. Unfortunately, a split decision loss sent him back tot he drawing board. Luckily for him is all it took was three fights for MacDonald to get back tot he title which was held by Lawler at the time. He took out BJJ ace Demain Maia, current number one contender Tyron Woodley, and former Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine. Lawler won the second fight with a TKo in the fifth round, but MacDonald was winning on the scorecards and would have won the fight if he was to finished.
Now, he will face off with none other than Stephen Thompson. He broke huge with his first round TKO over former champion Johny Hendricks.That was his sixth win in a row though, four of which came by a TKO. He also took out former top ten fighter Jake Ellenberger, UFC veteran Patrick Cote, his only loss at 170, and now current Middleweight contender Robert Whittaker. It seems like he will not get the title shot just yet though, despite an amazing performance in his last fight. Do you think he can take out MacDonald next?