Tom Lawlor expected to face Corey Anderson at UFC 197

A light heavyweight battle between Tom Lawlor and Corey Anderson is expected on UFC 197.

Lawlor (10-5) said on his podcast at F4wonline.com on Monday that his next fight would be with Anderson (7-1) on the March 5 show, which will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

The show has not been officially announced, but there is a Ticketmaster web page listing the date, and that tickets go on sale on Jan. 20. The show is expected to have two title matches with Rafael dos Anjos vs. Conor McGregor for the lightweight title and Holly Holm vs. Miesha Tate for the women's bantamweight title.

There are a couple of ironies in this match-up. The first is that Anderson was the replacement for Lawlor, who suffered a concussion in training for a Nov. 7 fight in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he was to face Fabio Maldonado. Anderson won that fight by a one-sided decision.

Anderson's only career loss was via TKO to Gian Villante on April 18 in Newark, N.J. Lawler's only fight over a nearly three-year period, due to knee injuries, was on July 25 in Chicago, where he beat Villante via early second-round knockout. Prior to that, Lawler's previous fight was a win over Michael Kuiper on April 6, 2013, in Stockholm, Sweden, via guillotine choke.

Lawlor is best known for his character portrayals at weigh-ins and in walkouts, usually of either former UFC fighters, as well as movie characters and pro wrestlers.