UFC Roundup: Covington Set to Fight Lawler and Other Headlines

It was announced this week that constant heat magnet and former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington has agreed to fight “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler in the main event of UFC Fight Night on August 3 in Newark, New Jersey. Covington hasn’t fought since defeating Raphael dos Anjos for the interim title last year. He was later stripped of the title due to inactivity and reportedly refusing to take fights, opting for surgery instead. He has a professional mixed martial arts record of 14-1.

Robbie Lawler fought more recently against the debuting Ben Askren back at UFC 235. Lawler dominated the opening moments of the fight but was eventually stopped via bulldog choke submission – but the ending was not without its controversy. Lawler was expected to face former champ Tyron Woodley in the main event of this Saturday’s ESPN card but Woodley had to withdraw due to injury. Lawler is 28-13 with one no contest.

Other fights announced for the August 3 event in New Jersey include a light heavyweight bout between Volkan Oezdemir and Ilir Latifi and a lightweight bout between Clay Guida and Jim Miller.

Another fight card taking shape is the September 14 card that will be live from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The official fight card thus far is as follows:

Misha Cirkunov vs Jim Crute – Light heavyweight

Glover Texeira vs Nikita Krylov – Light heavyweight

Todd Duffee vs Jeff Hughes – Heavyweight

David Branch vs Andrew Sanchez – Middleweight

Marcin Tybura vs Augusto Sakai – Heavyweight

Antonio Carlos Junior vs Uriah Hall – Middleweight

A main event fight has not yet been made official.

Aldo signs contract extension

In other news, UFC legend Jose Aldo made a splash in the MMA world when it was announced that he had signed an eight-fight contract extension with the UFC. Aldo was never shy about talking about the possibility of retiring and even mentioned earlier in the year that he expected to just ride out the remainder of his contract. After losing back-to-back fights against Max Holloway, Aldo has gone 2-1 in the UFC, most recently losing to top featherweight contender Alex Volkanovski. There is no news on who Aldo’s next opponent could be.

Jones officially sanctioned leading up to UFC 239 main event

Light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones has been officially cleared and sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his UFC 239 bout against Thiago Santos next Saturday during international fight week. After fulfilling his obligations and undergoing constant drug testing, Jones was granted a one-fight license to face Anthony Smith at UFC 235. This new license will now carry him through to the end of the year should he stay clean. Stay tuned for our complete breakdown of the UFC 239 main card coming soon.