Robbie Lawler made a reputation for himself as a knockout artist in the UFC and other MMA organizations. His reputation for the big punch has led to him earning the much deserved nickname of “Ruthless.” With the much anticipated fight between him and Nick Diaz on the card at UFC 266, we thought we’d look back at five of the most memorable fights of Lawler’s career.
Not all of Lawler’s best fights occurred in the UFC as shown by his title fight against IS Middleweight Champion Frank Trigg. Coming into the fight at 34, Trigg was a seasoned veteran of MMA against a 25-year-old Lawler, but Lawler’s youth and stamina were big factors in this fight.
The fight went for a hard fought three rounds, but the toughness of the fight caught up with “Twinkle Toes” Trigg in the fourth as his concentration lapsed as he and lowered his guard for a brief moment when pressed into a corner. That was the opening Robbie Lawler needed to land eight heavy punches resulting in a knockout. This was only the second time that Trigg had been knocked out in his career, and it gave Lawler the Icon Sport Middleweight Title.
Matt Lindland came into his match at Strikeforce against Robbie Lawler with a recent history of being knocked out, and with Lawler’s fighting style, fans were wondering if Lindland would once again hit the mat.
This match ranks as one of Lawler’s top fights for the ease and quickness he dispatched Lindland. It only took fifty second for Robbie Lawler to find an opening against a stiff and apprehensive Lindland. As soon as that opening was there, Lawler landed a heavy overhand right to drop Matt Lindland to the mat, and before he recovered finished him off with a knockout punch through Lindland’s defense. This fight demonstrated Lawler’s ability to exploit any weakness with his powerful punches.
In his second fight at Strikeforce, Lawler continues with his aggression and hunger for knockouts against Dutch kickboxer, Melvin Manhoef.
Manhoef dominated the majority of the entire first round landing 24 strikes to Lawler’s zero. It looked as if Manhoef was going to be able to take away Lawler’s power and keep him at bay with his kickboxing prowess, but if Lawler’s history has shown us anything, all it takes is one mistake.
At 3:33 in the first round, Melvin Manhoef landed a leg kick, but at the same time accidentally lowered his hand giving “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler the opening he needed. Lawler landed an overhand right and finished Manhoef off with a left hook and a right-handed hammerfist for the KO.
UFC 167 saw Robbie Lawler come into his fight with Rory MacDonald as a huge underdog, but with Lawler’s quick-strike capabilities, you can never count him out.
This fight saw both Lawler and MacDonald go back and forth for all three rounds with neither fighter giving an opening for the other to end the fight by KO or submission. This fight went back and forth between MacDonald getting Lawler down for the ground game and Ruthless laying some heavy shots that dazed but didn’t quite finish off, Rory. In the end, the bell ended the fight and the judges awarded the upset to Lawler proving that he could go the distance and win fights rather than rely on the big knockout blow.
One of Lawler’s best bouts came early in his career against the antagonizing Nick Diaz. This fight is remembered well as it introduced Diaz’s antics to mainstream UFC fans for the first time.
Nick Diaz came out taunting Robbie Lawler early and whenever he could during the fight. The first round was intense with Diaz rocking Lawler with a punch that staggered him to a knee. Lawler recovered and went on the offensive as the pace of the first five minutes was furious. The second round would not be so close, however, as Nick Diaz was able to counter a Lawler punch and catch him flush with a strike of his own. Lawler straightened briefly and fell to the mat as he was knocked out by Diaz.
The rematch has been a long time in the making, but Robbie Lawler is set to face Nick Diaz in the octagon once more at UFC 266 in a five-round fight. While both of these fighters have had different paths over their long career, this is still one of the most anticipated fights of the year. Lawler will need to find an opening to take down Diaz early, and if he doesn’t Nick Diaz will probably win if the fight carries on for an extended length of time.
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