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Brett Okamoto
Former UFC champion and fan favorite Robbie Lawler has joined the board of directors of Xtreme One Entertainment, Inc., company officials told ESPN on Tuesday.
Lawler, who retired from the UFC in 2023, joins several other public figures already on the board, including former WWE star Ettore “Big E” Ewen and Fox Sports reporter Jenny Taft. Xtreme One Entertainment, Inc. is the parent company of Xtreme Fighting Championships, a regional MMA promotion focused on developing talent for bigger shows such as the UFC and PFL.
“This is a way for me to stay involved in the sport and help provide a path to the biggest shows for young athletes,” Lawler told ESPN. “I’ve been able to work as a coach in the sport, and my goal is always not to just get a fighter to the UFC, but keep him in the UFC. It will be the same goal at XFC, getting these athletes prepared for every aspect of a professional career.”
According to Xtreme One Entertainment, Inc. president Chris Defendis, Lawler will advise XFC athletes on career management, branding and media. The publicly traded company ($XONI) and its fight league have rebuilt some of their infrastructure, following an SEC judgment for fraud against XFC’s former CEO Steve Smith Jr. in April. Last month, the company launched a crowdfunding capital raise to increase operations.
“Robbie has done this sport longer than 99 percent of people who have ever fought, and he’s seen it all,” Defendis said. “We want to be an organization that gives fighters real structure and advice, and we want Robbie to take the charge on that from a credibility and experience perspective.”
The XFC intends to promote approximately 12 events in 2026, split evenly between arena events and smaller “Young Guns” cards that focus on brand new talent. It has not yet announced official broadcast plans for the year.
“We want to send guys to the UFC who are ready to rock and roll,” said XFC COO Randel Aleman. “We want them to already know what a true professional is before they arrive there. Some of these details sound like small things, but it’s why when Nick Saban was at Alabama, everybody wanted to draft Alabama guys, because they knew they were getting a ‘pro ready’ guy.”
Lawler (30-16) was inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame in 2025. He began fighting professionally, at age 19, as a member of the infamous Miletich Fighting Systems gym in Bettendorf, Iowa. He won the UFC welterweight championship in 2014. His second fight against Rory MacDonald in July 2015 is recognized as one of the greatest fights in UFC history and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame’s Fight Wing in 2023.