Preview: UFC 290 Prelims

International Fight Week is here, and as expected for what's traditionally one of the big cards of the year, it comes with a fun slate of prelims. Welterweights take center stage here, as the featured prelim is slated to be all-time great Robbie Lawler's retirement fight; he'll try to put in one last excellent performance against fellow violence-bringer Niko Price. Past that, Sean Brady unfortunately fell out of a slated banger opposite fellow top 170-pound prospect Jack Della Maddalena, but Della Maddalena should still put up a fun effort against newcomer Josiah Harrell. Dotting the prelims are a few other top prospects ready to work their way up their relative divisions; Yazmin Jauregui takes on Denise Gomes in a battle of two top young strawweights, and flyweight Tatsuro Taira and light heavyweight Vitor Petrino serve as other highlights. Add in a rematch of Jimmy Crute and Alonzo Menifield's light heavyweight war from February, and this figures to be non-stop action.

Welterweights

Robbie Lawler (29-16, 1 N/C) vs. Niko Price (15-6, 2 N/C)
Odds: Price (-265), Lawler (+225)

After 45 fights and over 22 years, this is apparently it for Robbie Lawler, and the time seems right to end one of the sport's most fascinating careers. "Ruthless" figured to be a future champion before flaming out of the UFC all the way back in 2004, after which he bounced around from promotion to promotion as a recognizable name that could bring violence to the cage every time out. Things were mostly successful through a run in EliteXC that served as Lawler's first career renaissance, but a subsequent stint in Strikeforce was dotted with flat performances that took Lawler out of high-level relevance; once the UFC absorbed the Strikeforce roster, Lawler's return to the Octagon in 2013 seemed like more of an entertaining footnote than anything else. Instead, it turned into Lawler realizing his championship potential a decade later than anyone expected, running his way up the ladder in war after war until he finally took the welterweight title from Johny Hendricks at the tail end of 2014. Lawler only had two successful title defenses, but it's hard to think of a title reign more fondly remembered, as those two fights - victories over Rory MacDonald and Carlos Condit - are each five-round epics that rank among the best fights the sport has ever seen. Tyron Woodley ended Lawler's title reign in short order in 2016, and from there the now-former champ has hung around as a viable name for the better part of the last few years, even if there hasn't been much in the way of success; Lawler rebounded from the Woodley loss with a win over Donald Cerrone, but has dropped five of his six fights since, with the only victory coming against a semi-retired Nick Diaz. Lawler hasn't looked terrible in any of those outings, though his loss to Bryan Barberena roughly a year ago was a bit of a low point; Lawler showed some sharp boxing and was stringing together a solid performance up until the point that Barberena was able to stun and finish him, something that never would've happened to Lawler in the past. But there's still enough there to make this fight against Niko Price winnable, even if the UFC matchmakers didn't do Lawler a ton of favors in this last ride. Price is a testament to the benefits of physical gifts, as "The Hybrid" is far from a technically sound fighter, but is able to leverage his lanky frame into landing some impressive knockouts from unorthodox angles - it's still unclear how exactly he was able to punch Randy Brown unconscious while on his back in 2018. But while Price is dangerous at all times, to say the least, he can also be just as defensively flammable - that looping striking style leaves him open for a counter, and his December return from injury against Phil Rowe raised some concern about his gas tank at the current moment. Lawler could put on one more masterclass on his way out of the sport, but it's unclear how well he can survive someone with Price's power and persistence at 41 years of age - so this looks like another fight where things will go well for Lawler up until the point everything goes haywire in horrible fashion. The pick is Price via second-round knockout.

Jump To »
Lawler vs. Price
Della Maddalena vs. Harrell
Jauregui vs. Gomes
Crute vs. Menifield
Taira vs. Chairez
Petrino vs. Prachnio
Saaiman vs. Mitchell
Ross vs. Aguilar
Kirk vs. Ribovics