LAS VEGAS – Professional fighting has occupied more than two decades of Robbie Lawler’s life. At UFC 290, he will say farewell to active competition for good.

Lawler (29-16 MMA, 14-10 UFC), a former UFC welterweight champion, made his MMA debut in April 2001. More than 22 years later, he will hang up the gloves following Saturday’s matchup with Niko Price (15-6 MMA, 7-6 UFC), which serves as the featured prelim on ABC, ESPN and ESPN+ from T-Mobile Arena prior to the pay-per-view main card.

The 41-year-old knew the time would eventually come for him to walk away from the sport, and he finally pulled the trigger on a tough decision.

“It’s just a feeling I got over time,” Lawler told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 290 media day. “I’ve been doing this a long time. Accomplished a lot. Just felt it was time.”

Although he’s retiring, Lawler said he will not be absent from the sport going forward. In recent years he has taken a role of a coach and mentor to younger fighters at Kill Cliff FC in South Florida. He intends to continue that and share the immense knowledge he’s gained from an eventful career with the next generation.

“I’m definitely going to be around the sport,” Lawler said. “This sport’s given so much to me. The reason I am where I am today and been able to last this long is because of all the people helping me. So I’m going to give back all these little tidbits over time and we have a really good gym at Kill Cliff FC and help guys get stronger so they can make money and compete at a high level. That’s what I feel martial arts is about, is to give back and showing techniques.”

Being in the gym will still be an important part of Lawler’s life going forward, but it won’t be everything. He intends to spend as much time as possible with his family, but outside of that, will still need to find things to occupy his time.

Lawler admits that part of this transition to post-fight life is intimidating, and it’s something he’ll have to figure out as it goes.

“I would say there was fear because it’s freaking unknown,” Lawler said. “I’ve been training and competing my whole life, even when I was supposed to be in high school and middle school, I was training on how to get better at wrestling or football or fighting when I should be doing my homework. That’s where I’ve always been.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 290.