This Saturday night at UFC 181, Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler face perhaps their biggest competition for 2014’s fight of the year from… Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler.
Eight months ago at UFC 171, Hendricks and Lawler squared off for the newly vacant UFC Welterweight Championship. Hendricks was fresh off his highly-controversial title fight loss to former welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre. Prior to that, the Oklahoma-native had won six straight contests. Lawler, a once highly-regarded prospect that had fallen on some hard times, was in the middle of a career resurgence that included handing the heir to St-Pierre’s throne Rory Macdonald his second career loss.
The two squared off in a barnburner of a brawl, opting to trade leather with nary a takedown landed until the fourth round despite both men’s respectable wrestling backgrounds. The fight was tied going into the final frame. There, the fate of the bout continued to hang in the balance until Hendricks was able to ostensibly secure victory with a takedown.
The judges’ scorecards all saw the fight 48-47 for Hendricks, and while the fight went down to the last minutes it was about as clear-cut as you could hope a closely-contested title bout to be.
After the bout Hendricks would be forced to heal up from multiple injuries, including a cracked shin he competed with and a bicep he tore during the fight.
Lawler, continued his rampage through the welterweight division. The “Ruthless” one absolutely blistered fellow top-ten ranked welterweights Jake Ellenberger and Matt Brown to rebound from loss to Hendricks.
While no two fights are the same, and Lawler has certainly shown to have not lost a step, there are certain things we can ascertain from the first clash between these two powerful pugilists.
If that bout at UFC 171 showed us anything, it’s that both of these men have dynamite in their hands and granite in their chins. They both expressed their desire to make mincemeat out of each other’s face, and a blatant disregard for what happened to their own battered visage. However, I can’t help but feel that Lawler fought his best possible fight (in terms of game-planning and where the fight took place) the first go-around.
Fighting injured, Hendricks engaged Lawler on his terms, never attempting more than one or two takedowns per round throughout the first four frames. This ensured that Lawler was able to focus on what he does best, heavy-handed striking, without having to worry about Hendrick’s most sizeable advantage, wrestling. Still, Hendricks proved that when he felt it absolutely necessary, he could secure a takedown despite Lawler’s best efforts.
“Bigg Rigg” made it clear that he can match, and even beat, Lawler at his game, while Lawler failed to prove that when the fight is on the line he can stop Hendricks’s best weapon. Hendricks is a relatively significant betting favorite, and I agree with that assessment.
All signs point to a healthy “Bigg Rigg” being able to successfully defend his title on Saturday night. But being counted out has never stopped Robbie Lawler before.
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