Dana White made the announcement via Kevin Iole on Tuesday. This fight will be the second 5-rounder in UFC history. It will not be a main event or title fight.
At UFC 263, the first was a welterweight match between Leon Edwards and Nate Diaz.
17 years ago, UFC 47 saw two rising stars, Robbie Lawler and Nick Diaz, share the octagon. Nick Diaz was served with the “Ruthless”, second loss in UFC via KO at 1:13 of the second round.
Robbie won the EliteXC middleweight title and UFC welterweight title, while Nick won his titles at Strikeforce and WEC. Although both had a successful career, their last fights did not benefit their reputations.
The last time Nick Diaz (26-9 0) graced a UFC Octagon was 6 years ago against Anderson Silva. The fight ended in a unanimous decision. However, both fighters failed drug tests and the fight was rescheduled as a no-contest.
Robbie is still a fighter but that doesn’t give him an edge. Robbie lost four of his five fights to Tyron Woodley at UFC 201 via first round KO. In his previous fights, the 39-year-old fighter didn’t look like him. He won his last fight against Donald “Cowboy”, Cerrone, at UFC214 by unanimous decision.
Although the card is still in flux, we can tell you that the Co-main Event will feature a 5 round fight between Nick Diaz & Robbie Lawler. The Main-event of evening will be the Featherweight title bout between Alexander Volkanovski, current champion, and #2 contender Brian Ortega. Both have only one career loss.
UFC 266 appears like this at the moment:
* Featherweight: 145lbs (C.Alexander Volkanovski) vs. Brian Ortega
* Welterweight – 170lbs: Robbie Lawler against Nick Diaz
* Flyweight – 12lbs Erin Blanchfield vs. Sarah Alpar
* Lightweight – Weight – 155lbs Jalin Turner vs. Uros Med
* Flyweight: Jessica Andrade against Cynthia Calvillo
* Bantamweight 135lbs: Marlon Moaes vs. Merab Valishvili
* Heavyweight – 265-265lbs Curtis Blaydes vs. Jairzinho Rodzenstruik
* Flyweight: Roxanne MODAFFERI vs. Tatiana Suarez
