An infection in his blood kept Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone from fighting at this weekend’s UFC 213 card in Las Vegas but it won’t keep him sidelined much longer.
Cerrone will finally meet former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler at UFC 214 on July 29 in Anaheim, Calif.
Sources close to the matchup confirmed the news following an initial report from the L.A. Times citing UFC president Dana White. It was White who originally speculated that Cerrone wouldn’t be healed in time to fight as early as July 29 but it appears the former title contender will be healthy after all.
Cerrone (32-8, 1 NC) has been itching to get back into the Octagon after suffering a loss to Jorge Masvidal earlier this year that stopped his four-fight win streak in the welterweight division.
Following that defeat, Cerrone was advised to take some time off before returning to action and now that he’s been treated for the infection in his blood it appears he’s ready to fight again.
Meanwhile, Lawler (27-11, 1 NC) will fight for the first time in almost exactly one year after losing the welterweight title to Tyron Woodley in 2016.
Prior to that setback, Lawler had reeled off five wins in a row including two title defenses as welterweight champion.
Now Lawler will face Cerrone on one of the most stacked cards of the year with three title fights taking place at UFC 214 including light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier taking on Jon Jones, Cris “Cyborg” Justino meeting Tonya Evinger for the women’s featherweight title and Woodley putting his belt on the line against submission specialist Demian Maia.
