Robbie Lawler’s reputation needs no embellishment.
Few men or women competing in mixed martial arts can match Lawler’s knack for sparking violence in a fight. Pick a path towards a brutal finish and Lawler, the current UFC welterweight champion, has likely walked it.
History hammers home stark truths regarding the 34-year-old Lawler’s mercilessness. This is why the pay-per-view promo for Saturday’s UFC 201, headlined by Lawler’s third 170lbs title defense, looks like a horror film as much as it does a preview of a UFC contest.
During the 30-second advert, savage knockouts are slowed for effect, exposing the concussive abilities of both the champion and challenger, Tyron Woodley, who meets Lawler inside Atlanta’s Philips Arena for his first UFC title shot.
Meanwhile, a desolate voice moans the lyrics to Ring Around the Rosie and the song comes off like a warning that 1) Lawler is fighting and he could potentially school an accomplished, talented opponent, and 2) viewers should expect more than the typical level of violence from a UFC bout.
Lawler, a man economical with his words, is most comfortable when talk turns to prizefighting. His confidence has long been rooted in the power of his punches (and other attacks) and the conviction with which he unleashes them. Being champion has only bolstered his lay-it-on-the-line attitude.
As the calendar turned to 2016, Lawler registered an exhausting fight of the year title defense against Carlos Condit. Preceding that bout, an epic clash in July 2015 with Rory MacDonald turned uncomfortable when the Canadian challenger’s face was flattened en route to a late stoppage in a match Lawler simply refused to lose.
The last two victories on Lawler’s 27-10 (one no contest) record mean eight of Lawler’s nine opponents since returning to the UFC in 2013 fell short against him. The only blemish: another fight of the year effort, this time against Johnny Hendricks in March 2014 that Lawler avenged a few months later to become a UFC champion for the first time.
Despite his resurgence, Lawler’s last four contests found their way into round five. Woodley has never gone that far, which could harm his chances if the fight goes the full distance.
Woodley was the captain of the University of Missouri wrestling squad from 2003 to 2005, and has been a mixed martial artist since 2009. Lawler said Woodley stacks up as a “heck of a competitor” following the weigh-in for UFC 201 on Friday, “but I’m a fighter.”
Lawler has never been content to score points victories, but he acknowledges that participating in war after war in the octagon won’t serve his best interests — even if that passion brings in fans to watch a man who is not one of the bigger names on the UFC roster.
Action not words propelled Lawler forward in MMA. That’s how it’s always been. “Every fight I’ve gone in I want knockout of the night,” Lawler said. “I want to be in and out quick. Sometimes these guys just have a lot of grit, they’re highly trained, and I just can’t get them out of there so I get fight of the night.”
Next on that list is Woodley, whose MMA potential seemed limitless from the first time he appeared for Strikeforce. Since matriculating to the UFC in February 2013, Woodley has won five of his seven contests, however he has not appeared in the octagon since he grabbed a split decision over the previously unbeaten Kelvin Gastelum in January 2015.
If Lawler manages to approach the fury of his recent efforts on Saturday, the welterweight champion could once again be forced to leave a piece of himself in the cage. Woodley says he’s ready, repeating a mantra he has shared in the days leading up to the fight.
“This will be the first time I’m fighting for the welterweight title and I’m going to show I’m the best in the world,” the challenger said. “...Sometimes the light just clicks.”
Lights are turned on or switched off. It’s one or the other. In the fight world that often translates to the difference between ending up conscious or unconscious.
During the press tour for UFC 201, Lawler was asked about the prospect of facing Conor McGregor at 170lbs — a weight the featherweight champion revisits in August against Nate Diaz. Lawler kept his response raw. Getting press and attention is great, he said, but McGregor would be advised to steer clear if he knew what was good for him.
“McGregor’s a big draw but [a fight with Lawler] wouldn’t have been good for him,” Lawler told WSB-TV in Atlanta. “Because if I hurt him, I wasn’t taking his neck [like Diaz did at UFC 196].”
What would Lawler take instead?
“His soul,” he replied.
