Lawler Vs. Ponzinibbio Set For UFC 282

The last Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) pay-per-view (PPV) event of 2022 is starting to take shape.

ESPN’s Brett Okamoto confirmed today (Tues., Aug. 16, 2022) that a Welterweight clash between former champion, Robbie Lawler, and Santiago Ponzinibbio will go down at UFC 282 on Dec. 10, 2022, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

2022 got off to a rough start for both competitors as they’ll seek rebound victories to close out UFC’s calendar. For Lawler, he fell victim to an always-game Bryan Barberena early last month (July 2, 2022) at UFC 276, suffering a second round technical knockout loss. The result continued “Ruthless’” fall from grace after losing his title in July 2016, having gone 2-5 since then. Lawler’s last win came in a nearly 20-year-old rematch against Nick Diaz at UFC 266 in Sept. 2021 (watch highlights).

As one of Argentina’s finest throughout his career, Ponzinibbio has been a perennial contender at 170 pounds in recent years. Unfortunately for “Gente Boa,” injuries kept him out for a three-year gap and he’s gone 1-3 since returning to his active ways. Ponzinibbio intends to end a two-fight losing streak after two split decisions against Geoff Neal and, most recently, Michel Pereira in May 2022.

Lawler versus Ponzinibbio is only the second bout added to the UFC 282 line up thus far with the Light Heavyweight title fight rematch between the champion, Jiri Prochazka, and Glover Teixeira set as the first. More announcements can be expected in the coming weeks with 2022 dwindling away.