UFC 290: 3 of the best moments of Robbie Lawler's career
While most of the talk about UFC 290 surrounds the featherweight title unification bout between Alexander Volkanovski and Yair Rodriguez and the flyweight title bout between Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja, there is a noteworthy bout on the preliminary card that features the final fight of a UFC legend.
The featured preliminary bout of UFC 290 will see former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler take on Niko Price. It brings an end to one of the longest-lasting careers this sport has ever seen and the end of a beloved figure's time in the sport.
First entering the sport in 2001, and debuting for the UFC the next year at just 20 years of age, Lawler has seeen the sport and grow and evolve while in a career that has seen two different tenures in the UFC, as well as stints with EliteXC and Strikeforce. Lawler, in fact, was the EliteXC middleweight champion at the time of the promotion's closure.
Throughout his career, Lawler has been a part of some of the most memorable and action-packed fights, especially during his time at UFC welterweight champion. Fans loved Lawler for his toughness, his humble personality and the excitement of his fights.
Here are three of some of the most memorable moments in the career of Robbie Lawler:
3. Robbie Lawler defends UFC welterweight title in classic encounter with Carols Condit at UFC 195
After winning the UFC welterweight championship and then putting on one of the greatest fights ever in his first title defense, how else could Robbie Lawler continue an exciting championship run? Well, he managed to do that when he defended the championship against Carlos Condit at UFC 195 at the start of 2016.
Lawler got off to a decent start, being the fighter on the front foot. But Condit dropped him during that opening round and seemed to change the fight's momentum quickly. Condit looked to keep his pressure in the second, but Lawler battled back over the course of the round and managed to drop Condit.
After a back-and-forth and even third round, Condit brought the fight back to Lawler to start the fourth, which Lawler responded with his own barrage of striking. Lawler backed Condit up to the cage, though Condit managed to work off of it and ended the round with strong combinations. Then, in the fifth round, the two exploded and let everything go, battering each other from pillar to post until the final horn.
Ultimately, Lawler won the close fight on a narrow split decision.
While the fight's conclusion is controversial in nature, and can somewhat be infuriating for some fans to think back on, the fight was undoubtedly one of the most exciting that took place in the Octagon. Lawler vs. Condit earned Fight of the Night honors for the pay-per-view, and several outlets named it their Fight of the Year for 2016. The UFC, in fact, ranked it No. 9 when naming the 25 greatest fights in promotion history in 2018 as part of the UFC's 25th anniversary celebration.
2. Robbie Lawler defeats Johny Hendricks in their UFC 181 rematch to become UFC welterweight champion
After returning to the UFC following the folding of Strikeforce, Robbie Lawler racked up wins over Josh Koscheck, Bobby Voelker and Rory MacDonald to earn a welterweight title shot. He was tabbed as the UFC 171 opponent for Johny Hendricks, who four months prior was arguably robbed in his title fight with Georges St Pierre.
Lawler and Hendricks put on a fun fight that earned Fight of the Night honors at UFC 171. And though Lawler did not win the title, victories over Jake Ellenberger and Matt Brown in the months that followed resulted in a rematch being warranted. That rematch was made for UFC 181 in December 2014.
Lawler brought out pressure against Hendricks from the start of the fight, but Hendricks worked his successful wrestling and his own boxing combinations in a highly competitive first round. Hendricks continued his strategy in trying to trap and cut off Lawler in the second, but Lawler landed the better, more powerful strikes.
Hendricks came back with his own rocking shots of Lawler in the third round, but Lawler's activity and striking over the final 10 minutes of the fight against Hendricks' grappling attempts — as well as rocking shots from Lawler in the final minute — was enough to give him the nod on two of the three judges' scorecards.
After parting ways with the UFC off loses to Nick Diaz and Evan Tanner in 2004, Lawler completed an unbelievable comeback story in his return to the promotion a decade later by finally capturing UFC gold.
1. Robbie Lawler scores a fifth-round finish of Rory MacDonald at UFC 189 to conclude a fight that lives in MMA history
As part of this weekend's festivities that mark both International Fight Week and the end of his MMA career, Robbie Lawler is being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame as part of its Fight Wing. And that's because while it wasn't the fight that won him the championship, the clash he and Rory MacDonald had at UFC 189 goes down as one of the most celebrated and greatest fights that MMA has ever seen.
While Conor McGregor and Chad Mendes had all the headlines and hype heading into the pay-per-view, it would be Lawler and MacDonald's fight that left the crowd buzzing by the end of the night.
Lawler had previously beaten MacDonald at UFC 167, prior to Lawler's first fight with Johny Hendricks, and that fight ended in a controversial split decision for Lawler. MacDonald scored wins over Demian Maia, Tyron Woodley and Tarec Saffiedine to earn a rematch with Lawler as the co-headliner for UFC 189 — this time with the UFC welterweight title on the line.
The two started the fight very technically, working combinations and distance as they felt each other out and looked for openings on the other man. Things, however, heated up in the second round, as both men felt each other's power and Lawler busted MacDonald open. Lawler continued pounding away in the third round as the fight spilled into a wild brawl in the Octagon.
MacDonald landed a brutal third-round head kick and came out with relentless pressure in the fourth round, as the two man beat the living tar out of each other. Blood spilled over the Octagon floor and the two unloaded energy, giving all their might and fighting like true warriors of the sport.
Infamously, MacDonald's corner told him prior to the final round that he was five minutes away from winning the championship. But Lawler, who could be seen by the end sporting a torn lip, brought out his heavy artillery, ultimately landing a left hand that broke MacDonald's nose (if it wasn't broken already) and broke his body, sending him crumpling to the ground in a heap as Lawler retained with a fifth-round TKO.
Both men earned significant praise for the fight that lasts to this day. The fight earned Fight of the Year honors for 2015 across the board, with some even considering it arguably the greatest fight of the 2010s in the sport of MMA — if not, the single greatest fight in this sport's history. As part of their look at the 25 greatest fights in UFC history, as part of its 25th-anniversary celebration in 2018, the UFC ranked the fight No. 4.
And now with this weekend's Hall of Fame ceremony, Lawler and MacDonald have a solidified place in UFC history once and for all.
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UFC 290 takes place on Saturday, July 8, from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. Follow along with FanSided MMA, who is on site, for all your live news and highlights.