Lawler was slated to face Santiago Ponzinibbio on Saturday’s main card at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The promotion is seeking a replacement opponent for Ponzinibbio. ESPN was first to report the news. UFC 282 is headlined by a light heavyweight title tilt between Jan Blachowicz and Magomed Ankalaev.
The 40-year-old Lawler is just 1-5 in his last six promotional appearances, with his lone victory coming against Nick Diaz in September 2021. Most recently, “Ruthless” suffered a second-round technical knockout loss to Bryan Barberena at UFC 276 on July 2.
Ponzinibbio, meanwhile, has lost three of his last four bouts and is coming off a split-decision defeat to Michel Pereira at UFC Fight Night 206 in his lone appearance of 2022.