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The last UFC pay-per-view event of 2022 is starting to take shape. UFC 282 is set to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is expected that it will be headlined by a light heavyweight title rematch between Jiri Procházka and Glover Teixeira. The reports are coming in that a welterweight clash between former champion, Robbie Lawler and Santiago Ponzinibbio is on board for UFC 282 on December 10th, 2022.
2022 got off to a rough start for both fighters as they will be looking to bounce back from their defeats and end the calendar year on a good note. Lawler became prey to Bryan Barberena last month at UFC 276 via TKO in the very 2nd month. Since losing his title defense to Tyron Woodley in July 2016 at UFC 201, Robbie Lawler has only managed to bag two wins out of seven bouts. The wins came against UFC legend Donald Cerrone and Nick Diaz in a rematch at UFC 266. That rematch victory snapped Lawler’s four-fight losing skid, with defeats to Rafael dos Anjos, Ben Askren, Colby Covington, and Neil Magny.
As one of Argentina’s finest throughout his career, Ponzinibbio has been a regular contender at 170 pounds in recent years. But unfortunately, the injuries kept him out for a two-year gap after the win against Neil Magny back in 2018. Since his return to the octagon, he has gone 1-3. Ponzinibbio lost to a Chinese uprising star Li Jingliang and won against Miguel Baeza in the same year. Now he intends to get back on a winning path after facing back-to-back losses against #8 ranked welterweight Geoff Neal and Michel Pereira.
Lawler and Ponzinibbio were previously scheduled to face each other at UFC 245 in 2019, but a staph infection forced Ponzinibbio to withdraw from the bout. Lawler instead faced Neil Magny eight months later, losing by unanimous decision.
Lawler vs Ponzinibbio is only the second bout added to the UFC 282 lineup thus far with the Light Heavyweight title fight rematch between the champion, Jiri Prochazka, and Glover Teixeira set as the first. More announcements are expected in the coming weeks with 2022 dwindling.