Robbie Lawler was caught a tad off guard when he found out he would be fighting on the preliminary card of a UFC event for the first time in 20 years.
Lawler (29-15 MMA, 14-9 UFC), a former UFC welterweight champion and one of the most exciting competitors in the history of the sport, is set to fight Bryan Barberena (17-8 MMA, 8-6 UFC) on the undercard of UFC 276, which takes place July 2 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The main card for the event will air on pay-per-view, following prelims that were just announced to air on both ABC and ESPN ā and early prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.
Although the preliminary-card platform sometimes brings more eyeballs than the main card of a pay-per-view, thereās a certain prestige that comes with being placed on the top portion of the lineup. Lawler hasnāt been on the prelims of a UFC card since his promotional debut against Aaron Riley at The fight with Barberena at UFC 276 is a dramatic shift from Lawlerās most recent fight. āRuthlessā is coming off a TKO win over Nick Diaz at UFC 266 in September 2021 in a highly anticipated rematch of one of the defining losses of his career. It was a marquee matchup against a fellow legend, but now Lawler meets Barberena, who isnāt in the same stratosphere as Diaz in regard to star power.
Thatās fine with Lawler, though, because he knows Barberena is going to bring an action-packed affair.
āI mean, obviously itās totally different,ā Lawler said. āTheyāre both lefties, which is nice. (I) just trained for a leftie in Nick, and Bryanās a leftie. Itās a decent transition. I donāt have to switch too much up. But itās all about staying focused and being a professional and trying to bring that same energy to a fight against Bryan. ā¦ Thereās definitely no back story, but Bryan comes to fight, and thatās a pretty good story. I come to fight, and the fans are going to get what they love: two guys going out there looking for finishes standing up. You never know whatās going to happen. Maybe heāll wrestle, but weāll see. Iām excited to go out there and showcase my skills.ā
UFC 276 will mark Lawlerās first fight since his turned 40 in March. Heās not willing to put a timeline on when heās going to walk away from competition, but said heās currently satisfied with his performance in the gym and in the octagon and has no desire to walk away.
āJust one fight at a time,ā Lawler said. āWeāll see what happens. I enjoy doing this. I can do it at a high level. Iām training with really good guys at Sanford MMA. Theyāre pushing me. Iām holding my own. So as long as Iām enjoying it and my body feels good and Iām excited to fight and put on a show, then Iām going to continue to do it.ā
The entirety of Lawlerās focus at the moment is centered around Barberena. Heās excited to be part of the UFCās annual International Fight Week festivities, and though the competition is going to be fierce for performance bonuses, Lawler expects to be in the running when the UFC brass issues extra $50,000 checks at the end of the night.
āI always feel like Iām going to go out there and put on a fight,ā Lawler said. āThatās the only way I know how to do this. Iāve been doing this a long time. Iām not planning on switching my style anytime soon. But thereās really good fighters on the card. Really good fighters ā real technical, real exciting. Guys who bang, guys who do it all. Itās going to be a tough one to get that Performance of the Night.āUFC 37 in May 2002, and he admitted he didnāt expect to be back there at this stage of his career.
āIām not going to lie: I was surprised,ā Lawler told MMA Junkie on Friday. āIām like, āOK, whatever.ā I get to get out of there earlier, which is nice. I wish they just put me first. Start the show and then get out. Maybe fly home.ā
U Freakin Kiddin Me ?
If itās on ABC, thatās bigger than PPV. And heās the perfect guy to be on there.
Probably want a guaranteed exciting fight on the prelims to help sell the ppv
I hope Robbie brings it. Sanford has ruined him so far
Iām thinking age has āruinedā him not Sanford. He has a lot of miles on him at this point. Still worth watching!!
Bad call
Me Thinks So Too
Iām shocked that Dana put Jessica Eye on the early prelims
But I donāt think this was a great decision. Just saying thatās probably what happened.
Crazy, seeing as how thatās a better fight than most Main Events they setup these days.
Is he in the āfeatured prelimā at least?
yessir
Little bit of a tough position with Lawler because heās a name guy amongst hardcores, but aside from the Diaz fight, heās been irrelevant to the division for quite some time and has laid some eggs in the main card fights he was given. His last notable bump prior to Diaz was when he smashed Askren in 2019, but aside from that heās lost fairly one-sidedly to anyone of note heās been paired with.
Yeah but Most MMA Fans know Ruthlessnessā
Iāll be there!! Stoked. Rogan Fri night and UFC Sat. Anyone else going?
Rogan was a total letdown when I seen him years & years ago.Even my girlfriend thought he was bad.