MMA veteran Robbie Lawler set to retire following UFC 290 fight

UFC president Dana White announced that MMA veteran Robbie Lawler will retire following his fight against Niko Price at UFC 290 on July 8. According to Damon Martin of MMAFighting.com, White added that Lawler will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame just days before his retirement bout.

The 41-year-old Lawler made his pro-MMA debut in 2001 and fought under the UFC umbrella from 2002 to 2004 before returning in 2013 and remaining with the promotion ever since.

Lawler boasts a career record of 29-16 with one no contest, and an impressive 21 of his victories have come by way of knockout. His greatest win came at UFC 181 in 2014 when he beat Johny Hendricks by split decision to become UFC welterweight champion for the first and only time.

Lawler lost to Hendricks by unanimous decision less than one year earlier for the vacant UFC welterweight title, but he bounced back to take down Hendricks in the rematch. After two successful title defences, Lawler dropped the welterweight title to Tyron Woodley at UFC 201 in 2016.

That loss started a downturn in Lawler’s career, as he has dropped six of his past eight fights. He does own notable victories over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Nick Diaz during the time, however. Lawler has lost five of his past six decisions, though, including a technical knockout loss to Bryan Barberena in his most recent bout at UFC 276 last summer.

One last ride for @Ruthless_RL 😤🙌

Robbie Lawler has announced that his fight at #UFC290 on Saturday will be his last pic.twitter.com/RwUDoaG2my

— UFC (@ufc) July 4, 2023

At UFC 290, Lawler will close out his career against a 33-year-old fighter in Price who has struggled as of late. Price is 15-6 with two no contests overall, but he has just one victory in his past five outings.

Something has to give when Lawler and Price clash at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and regardless of who wins, Lawler will enter retirement knowing he had a highly successful and fulfilling career in the UFC. According to the top UFC betting sites, Lawler is currently paying +223 and Niko Price is at -285.71 as odds for their upcoming bout.

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