Colby Covington vs. Robbie Lawler Fight to Main Event UFC on ESPN 5

Colby Covington is set to fight Robbie Lawler in the headline fight of UFC Fight Night on August 3.

ESPN's Brett Okamoto relayed as much, citing UFC President Dana White:

Covington has not fought since he won the interim welterweight championship in June last year after nasal surgery prevented him from competing in a unification bout with Tyron Woodley.

Okamoto also relayed text messages from Covington confirming the pair would face off in the Octagon:

Covington expanded on his decision to accept a fight with Lawler in conversation with Okamoto's ESPN colleague Ariel Helwani:

The 31-year-old won the interim belt with a unanimous-decision victory over Rafael dos Anjos, which took his record to 14-1 in MMA.

Lawler, 37, held the welterweight title between December 2014 and July 2016, when he suffered a first-round knockout at the hands of Woodley.

He has fought just three times since then, picking up a win over Donald Cerrone before losing to Dos Anjos and Ben Askren, the latter in March this year. His record now stands at 28-13.

Covington is on a six-fight winning streak heading into this fight compared with Lawler's three defeats in four.

Should the former win on August 3, he might get another shot at the belt, which is now in the hands of Kamaru Usman.