Issue 144
August 2016
Reinvention is the key to finding longevity in the fight game
One of the fascinating aspects of fight sports is how the phases in athletes’ careers develop, and how there’s the need for prizefighters to re-invent themselves. The most successful example of this over the last decade is UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler.
While some of the greatest fighters we’ve ever seen have been able to sustain an almost flawless career at the top – we are witnessing that now with Jon Jones at 205lb and Demetrious Johnson at 125lb – they will hit the wall at some point.
Arguably, Jones had breathing space for a period of reinvention with the one-year suspension due to his own misdemeanors – a period he used to hone his physique and prepare for what is likely to be his destiny up at heavyweight.
And when he steps up, there will be major reinvention, something that coach Greg Jackson prides himself on in creating within the mind of the fighters he trained. There will need to be, and Jones will become a different fighter.
As for ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson, the likelihood is he’ll carry on until a new flyweight stud emerges and shifts the paradigm. But right now, the champion is spearing the new sharks from the water as early as he can.
When Anderson Silva was twice beaten by Chris Weidman, the need to get into a new phase was there, but perhaps not possible. Now 41, Silva’s time in the fast-evolving sport is close to complete. As we all know, the evolving sport of MMA waits for no man. Or woman, come to that.
Look at the rapid elevation and plummeting demise of Ronda Rousey. Lightning in a bottle, Rousey had the speed, power and technique to unhinge all comers as her division was developing. But now has come the need for a reconfiguration of ‘Rowdy’, a new phase, a new type of fighter.
It will prove to be the mark of what kind of champion Rousey can be. Given her openness about the adversity she has grown through in the past, the degree of exposure the 29-year-old has to live with simply by opening her front door and the schadenfreude she has shown at the demise of some of her victims in the Octagon, it makes her return all the more intriguing.
The longer ‘Rowdy’ is out, and it has already been seven months, the more we know she is reinventing herself behind the scenes. Let’s be honest, we need a Ronda Rousey 2.0. And given how good RRR season one was, there’s great pressure on the next phase of her career.
Return matches with Holly Holm and Miesha Tate and a first against Cris ‘Cyborg’ are set to define the second period of her career. But Rousey will not be afforded the opportunity to redevelop quietly, or in another organization, as Fabricio Werdum did at heavyweight and Lawler once did in Strikeforce.
From 2002, as a 19-year-old, to 2004, Lawler had six welterweight fights in the UFC, losing two of them to Pete Spratt and Nick Diaz. Moving up to middleweight, ‘Lawler 2.0’ lost to Evan Tanner at UFC 50, before falling off the radar, and returning to smaller shows, before popping up against at middleweight in Pride, EliteXC and Strikeforce, where he campaigned for the next eight years.
He suffered losses to Jake Shields, Renato Sobral, Ronaldo Souza, Tim Kennedy, Lorenz Larkin – all at middleweight. It was a huge learning curve, against bigger men. Then when Lawler returned to the UFC, in 2013, back at welterweight, 3.0 emerged as a fan favorite in his early 30s.
Honed, experienced, champion material. ‘Ruthless’ is probably the greatest example of any rejuvenated fighter. And still going strong.
Ruthless Mark III
Third time’s a charm
Robbie Lawler 3.0 has earned three accolades. He captured UFC 170lb gold, won 2014 ‘Fighter of the Year’ and won 2015 ‘Fight of the Year’ for his rematch with Rory MacDonald.
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