Robbie Lawler explains when he realized UFC 290 would be his retirement fight

Robbie Lawler will be making the walk to the Octagon for the final time on Saturday at UFC 290.

Lawler made his MMA debut in 2001 and made his UFC debut at UFC 37 in 2002. After a seven-fight UFC stint, he left to fight in different promotions but returned to the Las Vegas-based promotion in 2013 and has been a member of the UFC roster since then.

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In his career, Robbie Lawler is the former UFC welterweight champion and also the former Elite XC middleweight champion and has shared the cage with the who’s who of the sport. Yet, on Saturday night at UFC 290 against Niko Price, in his 47th pro fight, Lawler will be fighting for the final time, which he said was a decision he made a few months ago.

Robbie Lawler details why he decided to retire

“Probably a few months ago, just kind of like, alright this is not the same as it used to be. Just don’t recover as I used to. I can go, I can freaking go and fight at a high level, but it’s not what I want to do and how I want to do it,” Robbie Lawler said to ESPN. “I want to do extra, I want to freakin work until I outwork everybody. But, now it’s like, hey if you outwork everybody, you might not be able to train for two days.

“So, that is one of those things, the recovery process,” Lawler continued. “But, once I’m warmed up and I’m going, I’m freaking going and I don’t want to shut it off. It’s just how I am, I’m a goer, got to fine-tune and tweak it and not be as crazy as I used to be.”

Robbie Lawler is coming off a TKO loss to Bryan Barberena last July after he scored a TKO win over Nick Diaz in the fight prior. Despite still fighting at a high level, Lawler knows his time is up and says he will remain in the gym and go into a coaching role.