UFC 171 is a huge night for the welterweight division. In total there are 3 fights in the division that directly affect the top 10 of the division, including the main event title fight between Robbie Lawler and Johny Hendricks for the belt Georges St-Pierre vacated. The recently announced bout between Carlos Condit and Tyron Woodley will not only be on the PPV main card, it will serve as the night's co-main event per Dana White's tweet:
First off, this news is great because it plays right into my desire to see five round co-main events for what is effectively a title eliminator (at least for Condit). Alas, it will only be three rounds, and to me that's a bummer.
Condit (29-7) stopped Martin Kampmann in August to end a two-fight losing streak (against GSP and Johny Hendricks), all while collecting his 3rd straight FOTN bonus. An injury to Matt Brown prevented him from fighting last week at UFC on Fox 9.
Woodley (12-2) destroyed Josh Koscheck at UFC 167 in November, giving him two 1st round KO wins in his first year as UFC fighter. He does have losses against Nate Marquardt and Jake Shields, so he's 2-2 in his last 4, but a win over Condit would instantly propel him towards the top of the division.
In addition to Hendricks/Lawler and Condit/Woodley, Jake Shields will take on Hector Lombard on what will presumably be a main card fight. UFC 171 is shaping up to be a monumental day for 170 lbs and I'm definitely looking forward to all of these fights.