(‘Sometimes I think there’s a disconnect between how I see myself and how the world perceives me to be.’)

From the sound of things, being a fighter under contract to EliteXC these days is a lot like being in a long distance relationship. You never know exactly what your status is, whether you’re free to make out with other people in bars, whether you’re still getting together over Thanksgiving, and what little contact you do have with one another is always tinged with confusion and regret. Fortunately for EliteXC middleweight champ Robbie Lawler, he has Monte Cox for an agent, and Monte knows just what to do in this situation: write a break-up letter.

Cox filed a breach of contract notice with Pro Elite last week, hoping to get Lawler free and clear of the sinking EliteXC ship so Lawler can ply his trade elsewhere, perhaps in the UFC:

“There’s a warranty clause in the contract that you can challenge if they have enough money to fulfill the contract,” Cox said. “Obviously, right now, they do not. I notified them of what I considered to be breach of contract and they have 30 days to respond. They have to prove they can fulfill it or we’re a free agent.”

[...]

“We’ve done everything we can do,” said Cox. “Now, they may fight [the claim of breach of contract], but we can’t do anything at the moment. Right now, there’s no one at Elite to even talk to us. If I wanted to ask, there’s nobody there.”

Man, I’ve been there. Like when I was a freshman in college and dating a high school senior. You wait a couple weeks to be sure college is everything people said it was, then you send that break-up letter off just as fast as you can get a stamp on it. When you don’t hear back you wonder, is she contesting the break-up, or am I just dead to her now? Then you quickly forget about it and vomit in a trash can on the way to your Western Civ class.

For Lawler, that Western Civ class was UFC 90, where he went to make an appearance and have a quick chat with Dana White, according to this blog post on his official site:

Last week I spent at the UFC with Matt Hughes. The atmosphere was awesome as usual. I spent time talking to Monte Cox about what my options are. I also had a brief conversation with the very busy prez of the UFC. All that said I think I will be just fine. I will blog when i sign with an organization. Until then I will keep my self in good shape.

Lawler’s future is still fairly uncertain, however, as Cox expressed some doubt as to whether the UFC will be willing to match the $100,000 he made in his last fight for EliteXC. Cox also mentioned Dream and Sengoku as possible alternatives, as well as Affliction.

Considering how thin the UFC’s middleweight division has become, it might be worth the money to go ahead and pick Lawler up when he’s officially a free agent. They could deny their competition a potentially marketable star and provide a fresh opponent for Anderson Silva at the same time. Plus, we just really want to see Lawler back in the big time for our own selfish reasons. There, we said it.