'Countdown to UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler' debuts Sunday on FOX Sports 1

The UFC’s traditional pre-event show returns this coming Sunday, March 9, with the debut of “Countdown to UFC 171: Hendricks vs. Lawler? on FOX Sports 1.

The one-hour special previews the card’s headlining bout between Johny Hendricks (15-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) and Robbie Lawler (22-9 MMA, 7-3 UFC), who fight for a title that Georges St-Pierre recently vacated.

“Countdown” airs at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT), and replays airs throughout the week.

UFC 168 takes place March 15 at Dallas’ American Airlines Center. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. A short video preview can be found above.

“Countdown” will focus on the headliner, was put together after St-Pierre’s announcement of a semi-retirement, as well as the night’s other key bout: welterweight contenders Carlos Condit (29-7 MMA, 6-3 UFC) vs. Tyron Woodley (12-2 MMA, 2-1 UFC).

A potential lightweight barnburner between Diego Sanchez (24-6 MMA, 13-6 UFC) and Myles Jury (13-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) is also expected to be part of the “Countdown” special.

The official UFC 171 lineup includes:

MAIN CARD (Pay-per-view, 10 p.m. ET)

• Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler – for vacant welterweight title
• Carlos Condit vs. Tyron Woodley
• Myles Jury vs. Diego Sanchez
• Hector Lombard vs. Jake Shields
• Nikita Krylov vs. Ovince St. Preux

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)

• Kelvin Gastelum vs. Rick Story
• Jessica Andrade vs. Raquel Pennington
• Dennis Bermudez vs. Jimy Hettes
• Alex Garcia vs. Sean Spencer

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 6 p.m. ET)

• Renee Forte vs. Frank Trevino
• Will Campuzano vs. Justin Scoggins
• Robert McDaniel vs. Sean Strickland
• Daniel Pineda vs. Robert Whiteford

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