Robbie Lawler faces Neil Magny in the co-main event of this weekends UFC fight-card. He will be hoping to regain some momentum after losing three in-a-row for the first time in his storied MMA career. Here at The MMA Mindset we love Robbie Lawler (who doesn't, right?) so we're going to take a look at the five best wins in his UFC tenure.
5. Josh Koscheck - UFC 157
This is personally one of my favourites. Strictly because it's Josh Koscheck, and I could watch that guy get knocked-out every day for the rest of my life and be pretty content. In all seriousness, this may be one of the most important victories in Robbie's career. It was his first fight back in the UFC, after being released in 2005 and was the start of his legendary resurgence.
"Ruthless" came into the fight after a loss to Lorenz Larkin, and many expected Koscheck to dominate Lawler on the ground and grind out a victory. How wrong they were. Josh came out of the blocks hard, taking the future welterweight champion down with a double leg in the opening 30 seconds. However, the California-native was able to reverse position, land a sneaky knee and follow up with subsequent strikes, TKO'ing "Kos" late in the first.
Josh Koscheck is a piece of s**t, that is all.
4. Matt Brown - UFC On Fox
When you look at the two participants in this fight, it's clear to see why it was an absolute classic. Many fans consider this to be the Fight of the Year for 2014, and I have to say that I agree. For five rounds the two combatants went toe-to-toe, both refusing to take a backwards step.
This fight was pipped as the number one contender fight leading into the bout, so the stakes were definitely high. The fight 100% lived up to the hype, with a total of 457 strikes being thrown between the two. Both the men landed significantly, and appeared to hurt one another at several junctions, however it was Lawler that got his hand raised in the end.
What a fight.
3. Jake Ellenberger - UFC 173
I feel like this particular fight flies under the radar, and I'm not entirely sure why. Robbie Lawler was absolutely dominant in his UFC 173 fight with Jake "The Juggernaut" Ellenberger. Both fighters came into this bought following a loss, with the two fighters looking to regain momentum and mount a serious title challenge.
Lawler came out of the gate with the determination and pace we have all become used to, out-landing Ellenberger consistently on the feet. Jake did try to mount some offence, but was only connecting with air when he threw. Come the second, Lawler was in TOTAL control, landing a variety of big strikes including a huge knee which rocked his younger opponent.
"The Juggernaut" did land some offence in the third round, however, in the words of slipknot, "you cannot kill what you did not create" and Robbie landed a perfect knee and subsequent follow up strikes to finish the fight. This was the fight that catapulted "Ruthless" into the title picture.
2. Carlos Condit - UFC 195
What a war this was. If you have never watched this fight I strongly recommend you go watch it (then come back here and finish this article, of course).
Once again, this could of been Fight of the Year, however the calibre and level of the fights in 2016 were a different class. Diaz vs McGregor 2, Cub Swanson vs Doo Ho Choi took place that year to name a few. The fact it did not win the award, is certainly not a disservice to this fight.
The fight ended in a razor close decision win, with many calling it a robbery (in my opinion, it wasn't), for the champ Lawler. The bout came down to the last round, where "Ruthless" was able to take control and out-land "The Natural Born Killer" 22-11 as he closed out the fight in a strong position. You can argue either way to who you believe won this fight, but we can all agree that we're glad we got to witness this piece of poetic chaos.
1. Rory Macdonald - UFC 189
I don't really need to go into this too much, do I? This is in my top three fights of all time, and it definitely has a claim to be my number one. We all knew what to expect from a Robbie fight by now, but even this bout blew everyone's expectations out the water.
From bell to bell it was barely organised chaos, and both fighters looked close to closing the show throughout the fight. Rory MacDonald provided resistance to "Ruthless"s forward pressure and power striking by picking him apart at range and hurting the champ on numerous occasions. This is why we all love Robbie Lawler. Despite taking considerable damage, Lawler was able to keep moving forward and stop "The Red King" late in the final round.
Not only did this fight deliver on an action level, but it also produced one of the greatest pictures in MMA history. The image of Robbie screaming with his lip split nearly up to his nose is harrowing, and shows the lengths he was willing to go to get his hand raised. A fight which will definitely be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, and one that fans will remember for all of eternity.
Thank you, "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler.
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