10 reasons to watch UFC 171, including Jury's, Gastelum's and Hettes' big opportunities

It’s been a while since we’ve been here. Not since 2004, when B.J. Penn was stripped of his title while eyeing greener pastures overseas, has the UFC’s welterweight title been vacant.

Penn’s bold move, preceded by an upset of the promotion’s first 170-pound kingpin, Matt Hughes, opened the door to a star who would go on to become the most dominant champ in his weight class.

Georges St-Pierre didn’t win the belt on his first try, losing to Hughes by submission in 2004. And he stumbled after avenging the setback in 2006 with an embarrassing TKO loss to Matt Serra five months into his reign. But after he avenged that defeat in 2008, he held onto the title with an iron grip, defending it nine times until he formally stepped away from the sport earlier this year to deal with personal issues.

For the man who last stood opposite St-Pierre and possibly expedited his vacation, Johny Hendricks, the silver lining to a split-decision loss many thought unjust was the first crack at the belt.

On Saturday, four months after that controversial split-decision call at UFC 167, the welterweight belt will again be up for grabs when Hendricks (22-9 MMA, 7-3 UFC) meets Robbie Lawler (15-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) at UFC 171, which takes place at Dallas’ American Airlines Center. The event’s main card airs live on pay-per-view (10 p.m. ET) following prelims on FOX Sports 2 (8 p.m. ET) and UFC Fight Pass (6 p.m. ET).

Prior to his setback against St-Pierre, Hendricks had won six straight UFC bouts, besting ever-greater challenges and even waiting in line as the promotion obliged the now-former champ with a grudge match against Nick Diaz. A multi-time national wrestling champ, Hendricks blossomed into a knockout artist as he continued to win and stopped top-10 opponents with a concussive left hand. In his evolution, he became the biggest threat to the grinding St-Pierre as someone who couldn’t be taken down and could end a fight with one punch.

In Lawler, Hendricks meets someone with the same ability to bring fights to a violent close, but without the wrestling pedigree.

It remains to be seen whether Lawler’s evolution in grappling is equal to Hendricks’ improvements on the feet. After his first UFC stint came to an end, in part, because of deficiencies on the mat, Lawler has displayed an ability to keep fights standing. That, in turn, has allowed him to do what he does best, which is find opponents’ chins. Matched against Hendricks, he might get his toughest test to date.

The wrestling component of Hendricks vs. Lawler could turn this special occasion into the same type of grinding fight for which St-Pierre was known, but striking could bring a rapid answer to the question of whether Hendricks’ status as something of an uncrowned champ was justified.

In any event, we’ll soon have a new champ.

Here are 10 reasons to watch Saturday’s event:

1. Under new management

St-Pierre was a favorite whipping boy to many a fan in the latter half of his six years atop the welterweight class. Funny that now that he’s gone, or on vacation (or whatever you call his absence), we can’t stop talking about if and when he’s going to return. For as much flak as he took, and how frustratingly dreary his fights could be to watch, it was unquestionable that he did his part to anchor the UFC’s popularity. Hendricks and Lawler simply don’t command the same spotlight. Then again, they haven’t benefitted from St-Pierre’s time at the top of the sport, or his placement during a surge in the sport’s popularity. The winner of Saturday’s fight for the vacant welterweight belt might never reach St-Pierre’s level, but as they say, the show must go on, and you’ve got to start somewhere. Until, of course, “Rush” returns to the crosshairs.

2. We’ve got options

Far be it from the UFC to hold an actual welterweight tournament grand-prix style, but we can suspend a little disbelief to imagine the pair of main-card welterweight fights – Carlos Condit (29-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) vs. Tyron Woodley (12-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC) and Hector Lombard (33-4-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) vs. Jake Shields (29-6-1 MMA, 4-2 UFC) – represent opposing brackets on the road to an eventual title shot. Who knows whether the promotion actually intended to load the card with 170-pounders, but it works out well for moving things forward with the new champ, who’s really got his work cut out for him in building buzz. Performance ultimately will dictate who among the foursome moves forward, but the raised stakes should produce a contender, or at the very least, one half of a title-eliminator fight.

3. That old familiar foil

Right out of the Promoter 101 playbook, original “The Ultimate Fighter” gangster Diego Sanchez (24-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) returns to the octagon for fight No. 20 opposite Myles Jury (13-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC), who ticks off fight No. 5. You know what happens from here. Either Sanchez wins and calls out a marquee name for that last push to a title, or Jury wins and calls out a marquee name for his first push to the title. Sanchez is the UFC brawler posterboy, and he’ll have a job for as long as he wants. But he’s now forced to reset after a bloody thriller opposite Gilbert Melendez, and Jury is salivating at the chance to put a big name on his resume. The young fighter is the more technical of the two, but the old dog’s fierce intensity goes a long way. We’ll see.

4. Cat and mouse

Irrespective of its implications in the welterweight title picture, Shields’ tussle with Lombard is one of those hard-to-call fights that make it all the more watchable. Does Shields, the American jiu-jitsu guy, get it done and put Lombard on the mat? Or does Lombard catch him with one of those anvils and lay him out? Shields isn’t going to knock out the scary Cuban with his striking, but as he’s demonstrated before, he is very adept at racking up points. And that’s what this may boil down to in the end if Lombard can’t connect. Shields has a better UFC track record of beating guys who were supposed tool him on the feet. Lombard, though, is the biggest puncher he’s faced at 170 pounds since Paul Daley.

5. Kry me a river

Nikita Krylov (16-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) saved his job with a first-round TKO of Walt Harris after stinking up the octagon against Soa Palelei in his debut. Now, after figuring out that experience on the international circuit as a heavyweight doesn’t equip him for the same in the UFC, he drops to 205 pounds on very short notice to meet Ovince St. Preux (14-5 MMA, 2-0 UFC). This is the bout never meant to be for Thiago Silva, who went off the rails this past month and is now firmly in the promotion’s rearview mirror. Hats off to “Al Capone” for sticking up, but if St. Preux does to Krylov what he did in a previous performance against Cody Donovan, smashing away with ground and pound, Krylov could have a rough night at the office.

6. Upset specialist

After rising to the occasion in his past two fights, last-picked “TUF 17? contestant and eventual show winner Kevin Gastelum (7-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) gets a big step up in competition when he meets experienced welterweight vet Rick Story (16-7 MMA, 9-5 UFC). It’s the first reputable name for the reality-show vet, and a tough challenge to meet. Although uneven against upper-tier competition, Story is as well-rounded as they come, with solid striking and good MMA wrestling. Usually, Gastelum is the guy with the edge on the mat, so this matchup will be a good measuring stick.

7. Rocky and bully-winkle

Jessica Andrade (10-3 MMA, 1-1 UFC) pretty much got a gift from heaven when her originally scheduled opponent, ground-and-pound specialist and “The Ultimate Fighter 18? winner Julianna Pena, was swapped for the striking-friendly Raquel Pennington (4-3 MMA, 1-0 UFC). And it will probably be better for the fans who want to see Andrade do what she did to Rosi Sexton, which is to say she fought like a pitbull and punched the snot out of the British fighter. Pennington proved her scrappiness as a competitor on “TUF 18,” so this could be a barnburner.

8. The forgotten man

If he wins Saturday night against Jimy Hettes (11-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), Dennis Bermudez (12-3 MMA, 5-1 UFC) will have won his sixth straight fights in the featherweight division. You’ve got to think he’s due for something big, but just ask Raphael Assuncao where a half-dozen Ws get you. It may take time, and grappling wiz Hettes is no walk-through, but Bermudez lays it on the line and deserves a chance if victorious.

9. Something about that Scoggins

Stop five guys in a row, including a seasoned vet in your UFC debut, and you should get noticed. Flyweight Justin Scoggins (8-0 MMA, 1-0 UFC) was a bright spot at UFC Fight Night 33, and now he gets a chance to get more cage time against a tougher foe in Will Campuzano (13-5 MMA, 0-3 UFC) on the UFC Fight Pass-streamed prelims. Campuzano put Sergio Pettis through his paces in his debut, so we’ll see whether the step up is too much for the 21-year-old Scoggins.

10. Did you hear?

One fight-night bonus winner from UFC 171 will cart home a Harley-Davidson Low Rider after a fan vote on social media! So yeah, there’s that.

For the latest on UFC 171, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.