Former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler will make his return to the Octagon against ex-Strikeforce 170-pound titleholder Nick Diaz at the upcoming UFC 266 pay-per-view (PPV) event on Sept. 25 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
And he’ll do it as the -135 betting favorite.
That’s according to the oddsmakers over at Fan Duel, who peg Diaz as the +115 underdog. With a line that tight — and lots of time for money to start trickling in — you can expect those numbers to fluctuate over the next several weeks (in both directions).
Lawler was stopped by Diaz when they first went to war at UFC 47 way back in April 2004.
“Ruthless,” now 39, is the loser of four straight and hasn’t seen action since falling to Neil Magny back in summer 2020. As for Diaz, who turns 38 in just a few weeks, he hasn’t won a fight in nearly a decade and spent the last six years on vacation.
UFC 266 will be headlined by the featherweight title fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Brian Ortega. Shortly before that grudge match gets underway, Valentina Shevchenko defends her 125-pound strap opposite Lauren Murphy.
Here are the current betting lines for those bouts, courtesy of Fan Duel:
Volkanovski: -185
Ortega: +155
Shevchenko: -720
Murphy: +520
Expect more UFC 266 fight card announcements in the coming weeks.