Former UFC champion and a figure beloved by fans, Robbie Lawler, has been appointed to the board of directors of Xtreme One Entertainment, Inc., according to company sources. Lawler, who retired from the UFC in 2023, joins other public figures already on the board, including Ettore “Big E” Ewen, former WWE star, and Jenny Taft, Fox Sports reporter. Xtreme One Entertainment, Inc. is the parent company of Xtreme Fighting Championships, a regional MMA promoter focused on developing talent for major events like UFC and PFL.
According to Chris Defendis, president of Xtreme One Entertainment, Inc., Lawler will advise XFC athletes on career management, branding, and media. The publicly traded company ($XONI) and its fight league have rebuilt part of their infrastructure, following an SEC judgment for fraud against former XFC CEO Steve Smith Jr. in April. Last month, the company launched a crowdfunding capital raise to increase operations.This is a way to keep myself involved in the sport and help provide a path to the most important events for young athletes. My goal has always been not only to bring a fighter to the UFC, but also to keep them there. It will be the same goal in XFC, to prepare these athletes for every aspect of a professional career.
Robbie Lawler
XFC intends to promote approximately 12 events in 2026, divided equally between arena events and smaller “Young Guns” events that focus on new talent. It has not yet announced official broadcast plans for the year.Robbie has been in this sport longer than 99 percent of the people who have fought, and he has seen it all. We want to be an organization that provides fighters with real structure and guidance, and we want Robbie to take the lead on that from a perspective of credibility and experience.
Chris Defendis
Lawler (30-16) was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2025. He began fighting professionally at 19 years old, as a member of the 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 best fights in UFC history and was inducted into the Fight Wing of the UFC Hall of Fame in 2023.We want to send to the UFC guys who are ready for action. We want them to already know what a true professional is before they get there. Some of these details sound like small things, but that’s why when Nick Saban was at Alabama, everyone wanted to recruit the Alabama guys, because they knew they were getting a ‘pro-ready’ type.
Randel Aleman, COO of XFC
