Ladies and Gentlemen,
A new UFC welterweight champion will be crowned this weekend! For the first time in years, someone other than Georges St. Pierre will wear the coveted title. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Georges was a great champion. He dominated stellar competition. He always entered the octagon in perfect physical shape. He maintained a solid pace for five rounds straight. Heck, I think he could have fought 20 straight rounds.
And now he's retired.
It's sad. For me, at least. Hopefully he is enjoying retirement. Lord knows, he deserves it--even if many fans don't think he deserved his last victory. That's right. A lot of viewers felt that Johny Hendricks beat him. I'm one of those people. But the fight was close enough that I'm neither shocked or appalled at the outcome. Hendricks took the last round off, and it cost him.
Regardless, Johny Hendricks proved that he is a worthy competitor. When GSP announced his semi-retirement, I'm glad the UFC went ahead and slid Hendricks into a position to fight for the vacant title. He earned that opportunity. And so did "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler.
What a story! Robbie Lawler has been fighting since the stone age. Okay, that's a bit of hyperbole (an exaggeration), but Robbie fought his first amateur fight in January 2001, when he was only 18 years old. He fought 6 times that year. Then he fought in the UFC the following year. That was long before the UFC blew up and became a household name. That was UFC 37. They're on UFC 171 now. And that's not even counting all the UFC Fight Nights or UFC on Fox shows that have been aired. So much has changed since Robbie first stepped into the Octagon.
Back then, Robbie was a young up-and-comer. A kid destined to be their champion. It was no secret that the UFC brass loved him. He fought with unmatched intensity. He punched with freakish power. He looked like a young Hollywood star. They made him their poster boy. And things worked great for awhile. He crushed Aaron Riley, Steve Berger, and Tiki Ghosn.
Then he ran into an explosive and experienced kickboxer named Pete Spratt. For the first half of the first round, Lawler dominated. He bullied the kickboxer, pushing him up against the cage, and grinding him with short punches and elbows while on the ground. He even lifted Spratt high into the air and slammed him so hard, Hulk Hogan would have been proud.
But then Spratt got up. And whipped a vicious leg kick into Lawler's thigh. It changed the fight. Suddenly, Robbie could barely walk. This allowed Spratt to tee off on him with his large repertoire of kicks and punches. When the bell rang to signal the end of the round, it was anyone's guess who had won it. A 10-10 draw would have been fair.
The one-minute rest between rounds wasn't sufficient to heal Robbie's injured leg. He took another leg kick from Spratt, tried to counter with a leaping right hook, missed terribly, and buckled as he swung. Before Spratt could attack again, Robbie waved it off.
Yes, he verbally tapped. Like Roberto Duran's famous "No Mas" against Sugar Ray Leonard, Robbie quit while still on his feet. But before you judge him too harshly, know that Spratt didn't just hurt Robbie with that leg kick, he dislocated Robbie's hip. That's right, Spratt kicked him that hard.
The mma world didn't quite know what to think of that. Dana White and the UFC still believed in Robbie. 7 months later, he fought Chris Lytle and won a hard-fought 3-round decision (great fight, by the way). Robbie was back on track.
But then he was matched against a young and mostly unknown Nick Diaz.
Diaz, who would later become one of the most infamous and notorious fighters in the sport's history, knocked him out with a jab. Okay, that's not quite true. It was actually a right hook, but it was thrown with about the same amount of power as a jab. See for yourself:
This was a huge upset. Diaz had been knocked out once before. Most fans expected Robbie to be able to keep the fight standing (which he did) and eventually land a big shot for the knockout (which he did not). In that fight, Diaz showed the grit and willingness to fight on the ground or on the feet that would make him such a beast in the years to come. For his part, Robbie showed a suspect chin. In his next fight, Robbie got triangle choked by the late, great, Evan Tanner. With 3 losses in his last 4 fights, Robbie received walking papers.
In the 9 years that followed, Robbie grew from a boy into a man. He fought for a variety of organizations and compiled an 11-6 record. He beat some good fighters like Frank Trigg, Joey Villasenor, Murilo "Ninja" Rua, Scott Smith, Melvin Manhoef, and Matt Lindland. The Manhoef fight, in particular, was one of the craziest fights I've ever seen. Manhoef landed leg kicks on Robbie that made the one Spratt landed look tame. But Robbie always had dynamite in his hands. And this is what happened:
As awesome as that knockout was (and it was ridiculously awesome), Robbie also lost 6 fights while he was away from the UFC. To his credit, he lost to solid, proven competition like Jacare Souza, Jake Shields, Tim Kennedy, Jason Miller and Renato Sobral. He also lost a decision to Lorenz Larkin while fighting at 185 pounds. He had Larkin badly hurt in the first round, but Larkin survived and outworked Robbie in the next two rounds. Since then, Larkin has lost 2 out of 3. Robbie has gone 3 and 0. And all of those fights happened in the hallowed arena of the UFC.
That's right, after losing to Larkin, the UFC bought Strike Force (which had Robbie signed to a contract). And just like that, Robbie was back home. As I stated above, Lawler has made the most of this new opportunity, beating three opponents: former title challenger, Josh Koshcheck, Bobby Voelker, and the highly touted Rory MacDonald.
The win over MacDonald (and GSP's retirement) put him in line to fight for the championship of the world. If he wins on Saturday, it will be one of the greatest stories in sports, not just in the UFC.
I'll be honest. I'm rooting for Robbie. I hope he lands one of those nuclear warheads he carries in his fists. If he does, I will wake up the kids with my shouts of joy.
But he will lose.
Johny Hendricks carries the same nuclear warheads that Robbie does. And he has a better chin. He also has way better wrestling (2-time national champion). That's a combination Robbie will find too difficult to overcome. He has a chance, mind you--anyone who hits as hard as Robbie does has a chance. Plus, he has a ton of experience to draw from. But I just don't think it will be enough.
My official prediction:
Johny Hendricks by 5 Round Unanimous Decision over Robbie Lawler
Until next time.
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