Lawler opens as a -150 favorite vs. ‘Cowboy’

Bovada and 5Dimes opened Robbie Lawler as a -150 favorite versus Cowboy Cerrone (+120) for their UFC 213 showdown in Las Vegas.

Published on Tuesday, 5/23/17, at 1:23 p.m. Eastern.

5Dimes and Bovada recently opened ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler as a -150 favorite for his UFC 213 showdown versus Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, who is the +120 underdog (risk $100 to win $120). The total is 2.5 rounds (‘over’ -130, ‘under’ +100).

Lawler lost his welterweight strap to Tyron Woodley by first-round knockout at UFC 201 last July. He had won five in a row before falling to Woodley, including a pair of successful title defenses.

Lawler was originally scheduled to face Cerrone at UFC 205 in New York City. However, a few days after those reports came out, Lawler declined the fight in order to have more time to recover from his KO loss.

During Lawler’s five-fight winning streak, he had to go through four consecutive five-round wars. And in a UFC 171 loss to Johny Hendricks that preceded the five-fight run, he was also in the cage for 25 minutes before dropping the close decision to ‘Big Rigg.’ In other words, Lawler deserved the time off and then some.

His rematch with Hendricks (UFC 181), title defense against Rory MacDonald and second title defense against Carlos Condit were epic battles. In fact, the bouts with MacDonald and Condit earned Fight of the Night honors. The win over Condit finished second in voting for Fight of the Year in most publications and on most websites. The win over MacDonald was one of the most brutal and bloody fights in MMA history.

Cerrone had won 12 of his last 13 fights before losing to Jorge Masvidal by second-round KO at UFC on FOX 23. Following the defeat, UFC President Dana White put Cerrone “in timeout” and forced him to the sidelines before taking another fight.

UFC 213 will take place on July 8 at T-Mobile Arena.

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