Mike Perry vs. Robbie Lawler is booked for
UFC 255 on Nov. 21, according to multiple sources.— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani)
September 24, 2020
Sign up for ESPN+ right here, and you can then stream the UFC live on
your smart TV, computer, phone, tablet or streaming device via the
ESPN app. A sure-fire welterweight banger is headed towards the
Ultimate Fighting Championship pay-per-view card in
November.
ESPN announced the news on Thursday that Robbie
Lawler (28-15, 1 NC) will be squaring off with Mike Perry
(14-6) at
UFC 255. Their 170-pound affair will be taking place on Nov.
21, likely at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Lawler has not won a fight since 2017, dropping four consecutive
bouts to Rafael dos
Anjos, Ben Askren,
Colby
Covington and Neil Magny
since then. Although the Askren bout was marred with controversy
with a questionable stoppage from referee Herb Dean, the
other three unanimous decision defeats left no doubt. The former
champ won the title in 2014, where he defended it in a battle for
the ages against Rory
MacDonald in 2015 and then survived a scare in a title
unification match against Carlos
Condit in 2016.
Perry rebounded from the first knockout loss in his career by
taking a decision over Mickey Gall
in June. “Platinum” posts almost 80 percent of his wins by
knockout, and he started his career at 9-0 with nine knockouts
before losing a decision to Alan Jouban
in 2016. Beyond the Octagon, Perry has been
embroiled in personal issues, most recently when Perry
allegedly struck multiple people in a restaurant while hurling
several racial epithets in July. Since then, Perry has apologized
for his conduct and entered an anger management program. The
program lasted 30 days, and Perry was said to have completed it in
order to be cleared to compete.
UFC 255 goes down on Nov. 21 most likely at the UFC Apex in Las
Vegas. Headlining the card is a pair of flyweight title fights,
with Deiveson
Figueiredo vs. Cody
Garbrandt in the top billing, while Valentina
Shevchenko defends her throne against Jennifer
Maia. Also on the main card is a light heavyweight rematch as
Mauricio
Rua and Paul Craig
run it back following their draw in 2019.