Robbie Lawler vs Rory MacDonald title fight booked for UFC 189 on July 11 in Las Vegas

After going through the gauntlet time and again, Rory MacDonald will finally get his chance to vie for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title.

That's according to UFC president Dana White, who announced during today's (Feb. 18, 2015) press conference to talk about the recent string of failed drug tests (video here), that "Red King" will challenge current division kingpin, Robbie Lawler, at UFC 189 on July 11, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The fight came to fruition after Hector Lombard -- MacDonald's original opponent for UFC 186 -- was pulled from the event after it was discovered he had failed his UFC 182 post-fight drug test because of steroids.

Left out in the cold with no one to fight, MacDonald can now start to warm up for the title fight for which he's been clamoring since his friend and training partner, Georges St-Pierre, vacated the belt in 2013.

Sorry, "Smooth."

That, and he can also even the score with "Ruthless" after the hard-hitting striker derailed Rory's title plans and ended his five-fight win streak back at UFC 167 (see it again here).

As it stands, UFC 189 will be headlined by a much-anticipated featherweight title fight between Conor McGregor against long-time champion Jose Aldo. That means "Ruthless" and "Red King" will receive second billing.

Regardless of bout order, UFC 189 is shaping up to be one of the best pay-per-view (PPV) events of 2015. Add that to all of the International Fight Week festivities that will go down from July 7-12, and "Sin City" will definitely be buzzing come Fourth of July weekend.