Two of the most seasoned fighters in the UFC welterweight division will finally cross paths.
Former UFC champion Robbie Lawler returns to action against veteran Santiago Ponzinibbio at UFC 282 on Dec. 10. The location and venue for the event have not yet been confirmed.
MMA Junkie verified the booking with multiple sources that have knowledge of the matchup following an initial report from ESPN on Tuesday.
The two men were previously scheduled to meet at UFC 245 in 2019, but the bout fell through after an injury to Ponzinibbio.
Lawler (29-15 MMA, 14-9 UFC) recently fought in early July, losing to Bryan Barberena by second-round TKO on the main card of UFC 276. It was a back-and-forth fight that earned the Fight of the Night award. Prior to that, Lawler had defeated former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz at UFC 266 in September 2021. The 40-year-old fighter is 1-5 in his past six trips to the octagon.
Meanwhile, Ponzinibbio is coming off a pair of close, split decision defeats. He last competed in May, where he fell short to Brazil’s Michel Pereira in a contest that won Fight of the Night. Ponzinibbio had long been wanting a fight with Lawler, as he’s called him out in the past.
