UFC 201 odds for Lawler vs. Woodley: Lawler seeks UFC 201 victory as the betting favorite

Robbie Lawler has won five straight fights, including two straight successful UFC Welterweight title defenses. Lawler will try to defend his title again in the main event of UFC 201 against challenger Tyron Woodley.

The UFC Welterweight champion is a -185 betting favorite to defend his title this Saturday night at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Lawler has lived up to his nickname of “Ruthless” over the course of his career with 20 of his 27 professional wins coming by way of knockout.

An excellent striker and a strong defensive wrestler, Lawler has won eight of his last nine fights and proven capable of winning both by knockout or by going to the cards.

Woodley hasn’t fought since January 31 of 2015, when he defeated Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 183. Woodley has a professional record of 15-3 and has wins in four of his last five fights. While Woodley is primarily a wrestler, he has shown his versatility in mixed martial arts with five wins coming by knockout, five wins coming by submission, and five wins coming by decision.

Woodley will try to keep this fight on the mat and would pay +150 on the UFC 201 betting lines at the sportsbooks if he is able to pull off the upset.

Submission specialist Rose Namajunas is a -230 favorite in her strawweight bout against Karolina Kowalkiewicz. At just 24 years old, Namajunas owns a 5-2 professional record with four submission wins, and she picked up three submission wins in her three pro exhibition fights in The Ultimate Fighter series as well.

Namajunas will look to take this fight to the ground against Kowalkiewicz, a solid striker with a perfect 9-0-0 record as an MMA professional. Against a dangerous and improving fighter in Namajunas, Kowalkiewicz can’t afford to spend much time on the mat in this fight. Kowalkiewicz is a +180 underdog to win the fight.

Other fights on the UFC 201 card include Matt Brown (-315) vs. Jake Ellenberger (+245), Erik Perez (-140) vs. Francisco Rivera (-110), Jorge Masvidal (-235) vs. Ross Pearson (+185), Nikita Krylov (-175) vs. Ed Herman (+145) and Damian Grabowski (+110) vs. Anthony Hamilton (-140).

Brown is 1-3 in his last four fights while Ellenberger is 1-5 in his last six, setting the stage for a redemption bout between these two welterweights.