The highly-anticipated welterweight dust-up between Robbie Lawler and Donald Cerrone is back on, this time set for UFC 214 on July 29 in Anaheim.
Originally scheduled for this Saturday (July 8) at UFC 213, the fight was scrapped due to a Cerrone staph infection. It was then mooted for UFC 214, a rumour initially shot down by UFC officials, before being confirmed for UFC 214 over the weekend.
Confusion aside, Lawler-Cerrone is a tremendous addition to a fight card already boasting three title fights (Daniel Cormier vs. Jon Jones at light-heavyweight, Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino vs. Tonya Evinger at featherweight and Tyron Woodley vs. Demian Maia at welterweight) and, thanks to the quick turnaround, will retain much of its buzz.
Lawler, 27-11 (1 NC), is the former UFC welterweight champion who lost his title when stopped inside a round by Tyron Woodley a year ago. Before that he had claimed wins against the likes of Carlos Condit, Rory MacDonald and Johny Hendricks, confirming his status as the b est 170-pound fighter in the world. Now, with Cerrone back in his sights, he’s keen to again scale the heights and reclaim what was once his.
Cerrone, on the other hand, is a man still looking to get there. A perennial contender, both at lightweight and welterweight, Cerrone, 32-8 (1 NC), holds wins over Matt Brown, Rick Story, Patrick Cote, Benson Henderson and Eddie Alvarez. Like Lawler, however, ‘Cowboy’ is also looking to rebound from defeat, having been stopped in two rounds by Jorge Masvidal in January.
