Robbie Lawler vs Donald Cerrone confirmed for UFC 205 event

Cerrone knocked out Rick Story at UFC 202 on August 20 and expressed interest in taking another fight quickly unless he could get a title shot against lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos at lightweight. Before he lost the belt, Lawler had two successful title defenses against Carlos Condit, which is a candidate for fight of the year and a stoppage win over Rory MacDonald. According to MMAJunkie.com, former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler (27-11 MMA, 12-5 UFC) will fight red-hot Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone (31-7 MMA, 18-4 UFC) in the first-ever MMA fight held in NY after the state lifted its ban on MMA.

Lawler (27-11, 1 NC) is looking to rebound from his UFC 201 knockout loss to Tyron Woodley in late July. He was pushing White to get him back in the octagon as quickly as possible.

White didn’t do Lawler any favors, not that “Ruthless” wanted a gimmie anyways, by assigning him red hot Donald Cerrone.

ESPN.com ranks Lawler the No. 3 welterweight and Cerrone the No. 5 lightweight in the world. His last win saw his put away longtime top-10 welterweight Rick Story with strikes at UFC 202. He twice defended the title before his loss.

Also on tap for UFC 205 is a lightweight matchup between Al Iaquinta and Thiago Alves. Aside from the hiccup against Woodley, Lawler has been dominant in this division over the last couple of years. Prior to retiring, St. Pierre fought at welterweight and it’s unclear if he would be willing to step up to middleweight to take the fight against Bisping.