A welterweight pairing three years in the making might finally take place in December.
Per ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler has agreed to fight Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 282.
After being paired up against the Argentinian for a bout back in December 2019, Lawler saw the original matchup fall through when a staph infection forced Santiago to withdraw from the fight. At the occasion, the promotion decided to remove Robbie from the UFC 245 card as well, not giving the former champion a replacement opponent.
Most recently, Lawler (29-15-1 NC) got TKO’d by Bryan Barberena at UFC 276 last month. Before that, the 40-year-old had scored the only win of his career in his past six outings, when he TKO’d Nick Diaz, in September 2021. That victory made Robbie snap a four-fight losing skid, with defeats to Rafael dos Anjos, Ben Askren, Colby Covington and Neil Magny.
Also in dire need of a win, Ponzinibbio (28-6) will look to snap a two-fight losing skid, with split decision losses to Geoff Neal and Michel Pereira. The 35-year-old’s last win happened just last year, when he scored a unanimous decision over prospect Miguel Baeza.
Now, Lawler is scheduled to face Ponzinibbio at UFC 282, on December 10, in Las Vegas, Nevada. A light heavyweight title fight between champion Jiri Prochazka and former title-holder Glover Teixeira is expected to also be on the card.
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