By the Numbers: Colby Covington vs. Robbie Lawler

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The much-awaited title fight between Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman would have to take a backseat as the Ultimate Fighting Championship decided “Chaos” should face Robbie Lawler instead. That itself is an explosive match that fans are excited to watch, and the numbers below will only add up to the anticipation. They come to blows on Aug. 3 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, at UFC on ESPN 5.

Octagon appearances Lawler entered the UFC as far back as May 10, 2002 when he decisioned Aaron Riley at UFC 37. He fought a total of seven times, culminating in a submission loss to Evan Tanner at middleweight. After that, he fought for a bunch of other promotions, most notably Strikeforce, Pride and EliteXC. On Feb. 23, 2013, Lawler returned to the UFC as a welterweight, knocking out Josh Koshcheck in the first round.

Since then, the 37-year-old Lawler has not fought for any other promotion. He has contended for the title on multiple occasions and has faced some of the best at 170, including Tyron Woodley, Carlos Condit, Johny Hendricks, Rory MacDonald and Donald Cerrone. In all, he has fought in the Octagon a total of 20 times, with a record of 13-7.

Covington, on the other hand, only entered the UFC on Aug. 23, 2014, knocking out Anying Wang at UFC Fight Night 48. His most notable opponents are Rafael dos Anjos and Demian Maia, who together comprise two of the 10 opponents he has faced in the Octagon. Covington now has a UFC record of 9-1.

UFC championship experience Covington won the interim UFC welterweight title by outpointing dos Anjos at UFC 225 last year. He had the chance at the regular belt then held by Tyron Woodley, but a nasal surgery prevented him from taking it and he was later stripped of his interim title.

While the younger Covington has only fought for the belt once, Lawler has done it five times. He lost in his first bid for the vacant UFC welterweight championship to Hendricks. However, Lawler had his second chance against Hendricks again and was not to be denied this time. He later defended the title against MacDonald and Condit before losing it to Woodley.

UFC main event appearances Lawler is a fan-favorite who has headlined a UFC event six times. These were at UFC on Fox 26 against dos Anjos, UFC 201 against Woodley, UFC 195 against Condit, UFC on Fox 12 against Matt Brown and UFC 181 and UFC 171, both against Hendricks.

Meanwhile, this will be the first time Covington will have headlined an event.

Career losses Covington has only had 15 professional fights, with just one defeat. The man they call “Chaos” was notably tapped out by Warlley Alves at UFC 194. As for the more experienced Lawler, his gung-ho style sometimes contributes to defeat. He has lost to the likes of Ben Askren, dos Anjos, Woodley, Hendricks, Lorenz Larkin, Tim Kennedy, Ronaldo Souza, Renato Sobral, Jake Shields, Jason Miller, Tanner, Nick Diaz and Pete Spratt.