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Picking what will be the best fight between the main and co-main event at UFC 181 at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada this weekend is a lot like picking who’s hotter between Kate Upton and Emily Ratajkowski.

Really, does anyone really lose that debate?

Anyway, UFC Welterweight Champion Johnny Hendricks (16-2) in a hotly-anticipated rematch with surging contender Robbie Lawler (24-10, 1 NC) in the main event of the evening.

Second on the card is UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis (17-2) defending his belt for the first time against former Strikeforce Lightweight Champ Gilbert Melendez (22-3).

Good luck picking the best fight.

Between these four men alone in the UFC, there are 47 career knockouts (Lawler has 19) and there is a strong chance at least one of these men will add to the total this weekend.

In the co-main event Pettis and Melendez (who had spent the previous months coaching opposite of each other on this season’s Ultimate Fighter) will lock horns in a battle between former WEC and Strikeforce champs.

The two bring an exciting, but differing styles into the octagon as Pettis is known for his high-flying, unorthodox approach, while Melendez is known more for his brooding, scrapping and brawling style.

What Melendez lacks in athleticism he more than makes up for in experience and pure grit.

Anthony Pettis IMelendez has one of the toughest chins in lightweight history, having not lost a single bout to a finish.

That very chin will be tested quite a bit against the high flying Pettis (right), whom most know for his now classic “Showtime Kick” that he used to dethrone then WEC Lightweight Champion Benson Henderson (whom he also beat again for the UFC lightweight belt in 2013).

Melendez’s wrestling makes him formidable in this matchup however as Pettis has struggled with tough grapplers in the past.

If “El Nino” hopes to win this match, he needs to put Pettis on his back to neutralize his striking.

Pettis, however, has a strong jiu jitsu game which he featured in his last bout to win the belt from Henderson in 2013 and Melendez will need to watch out for it.

In the end, Pettis’ athletic style will be Melendez’s undoing and considering the champ owns two victories over Henderson, a man Melendez couldn’t beat himself, it’s hard to see the challenger coming away with the belt.

If the epic lightweight tilt doesn’t fit your fancy, however, the championship main event between welterweights Hendricks and Lawler should more than deliver as their previous fight was already one of the best of 2014.

The two first fought against each other in March at UFC 171 for the then vacant welterweight belt.

John Hendricks IThe two fought back and forth for five rounds, throwing brutal punches and deadly kicks that would fell lesser fighters, but in the end it was Hendricks’ (left) ability to wrestle and take the fight to the ground that earned him the decision and the belt.

Since winning the title, Hendricks has been sidelined with an injury, but Lawler has not stood idle.

Lawler has fought twice since March, knocking out perennial contender Jake Ellenberger and defeating up-comer Matt Brown.

Now he one again faces Hendricks and while the champion did have a clear advantage on the ground in the last fight, it was Lawler who won most of the stand-up exchanges.

It’s no secret that Lawler likes to stand and trade and many welterweights have already learned the hard way from fighting him and he will likely go this route again in this fight.

While Hendricks may have won the first fight, it was by a slim margin and now after nearly a year of being sidelined since their March bout he faces Lawler again in what may be an uphill battle.

Lawler looks every bit like a champion in the making these days and it would be hard not to see him get this rematch right this time around.

Expect a new welterweight champ this Saturday with Lawler taking the belt home this time by unanimous decision or possibly KO.

In either case, UFC 181 is a card fight fans should not miss.

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