Robbie Lawler Vs. Rory MacDonald Set For UFC 167

UFC welterweights Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald will face off at UFC 167 in Las Vegas on November 16.

The match was announced Tuesday on UFC Tonight.

Robbie Lawler (21-9, 1 NC) returned to the UFC in February at UFC 157 after fighting in a number of different promotions, including the now-defunct Strikeforce. Lawler earned Knockout of the Night after scoring a TKO victory against Josh Koscheck at 3:57 in the first round. At UFC on Fox: Johnson Vs. Moraga, he defeated Bobby Voelker by KO at 0:24 in the second round.

Lawler last fought in the Octagon in October 2004 at UFC 50. He had just moved up to middleweight and lost the match by triangle choke submission to Evan Tanner at 2:22 in the first round. Prior to that, he lost to Nick Diaz by KO at 1:31 in the first round in a welterweight match at UFC 47 in April 2004.

Rory MacDonald (15-1) enters the match with a five-fight win streak. He won his last two fights against Jake Ellenberger and BJ Penn by unanimous decision, and defeated Che Mills and Mike Pyle by TKO. He also won against Nate Diaz by unanimous decision at UFC 129 in April 2011. MacDonald’s only loss was to Carlos Condit at UFC 115 in June 2010.

The 24-year-old is currently ranked the number three weltwerweight by the UFC, and for good reason — he’s welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre‘s protege. MacDonald moved to Montreal and joined Tristar Gym, GSP’s home. As teammates, the two have said that they will not fight each other, but UFC president Dana White insisted that it’s bound to happen eventually.

“Here’s what they’re not going to do: they’re not going to publicly sit here and call each other out and go up and see each other in the gym and face each other. They’re both professionals,” he said. “They understand that they’re both on this path to collide, and I think when the day comes, they’ll deal with it then. I think that’s the way they’re looking at it.”

What do you think of Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald?