Picking & Grinning: UFC 201 ‘Lawler vs. Woodley’

He has gone from afterthought to unlikely Ultimate Fighting Championship titleholder.

Robbie Lawler will defend his welterweight crown against Tyron Woodley in the UFC 201 main event on Saturday at Philips Arena in Atlanta, as he looks to continue a remarkable run of “Fight of the Year”-worthy performances against the two-time NCAA All-American. In the co-headliner, Rose Namajunas squares off with the undefeated Karolina Kowalkiewicz, with a potential crack at women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk on the line.

The rest of the four-fight main card features a welterweight clash pitting Matt Brown against Jake Ellenberger, a bantamweight battle pairing Francisco Rivera with Erik Perez and a flyweight encounter matching Ryan Benoit with Freddy Serrano.

Ahead of UFC 201 “Lawler vs. Woodley,” members of the Sherdog.com staff swallowed their pride and put their reputations on the line with bold predictions:

Standings

Jordan Breen (20-15)
Tristen Critchfield (20-15)
Mike Fridley (20-15)
Brian Knapp (20-15)
Mike Sloan (19-16)

The Lineup

Robbie Lawler vs. Tyron Woodley
Rose Namajunas vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Matt Brown vs. Jake Ellenberger
Francisco Rivera vs. Erik Perez
Nikita Krylov vs. Ed Herman
Jorge Masvidal vs. Ross Pearson
Wilson Reis vs. Hector Sandoval
Freddy Serrano vs. Ryan Benoit
Michael Graves vs. Bojan Velickovic
Damian Grabowski vs. Anthony Hamilton
Cesar Arzamendia vs. Damien Brown

The Picks

Jordan Breen: Lawler, Kowalkiewicz, Brown, Rivera, Krylov, Masvidal, Reis, Serrano, Graves, Grabowski, Arzamendia

Tristen Critchfield: Lawler, Namajunas, Brown, Rivera, Krylov, Masvidal, Reis, Serrano, Graves, Hamilton, Arzamendia

Mike Fridley: Lawler, Namajunas, Brown, Rivera, Krylov, Masvidal, Reis, Benoit, Graves, Hamilton, Arzamendia

Brian Knapp: Lawler, Namajunas, Brown, Rivera, Krylov, Pearson, Reis, Serrano, Velickovic, Grabowski, Arzamendia

Mike Sloan: Lawler, Kowalkiewicz, Brown, Rivera, Krylov, Masvidal, Reis, Serrano, Graves, Hamilton, Arzamendia