Issue 107
November 2013
After a decade on the outside, Robbie Lawler is back inside the UFC Octagon and looking to make up for lost time.
The rebirth of ‘Ruthless’ Robbie Lawler may be the comeback story of 2013. When Strikeforce folded earlier this year, Lawler’s contract was picked up by the UFC. Saddled with three losses in his last four Strikeforce fights, his reappearance in MMA’s premier organization was met with a tepid response by some fans, even when it was revealed he would return to welterweight for the first time after a very long campaign at middleweight and higher.
Yet it took less than four minutes at UFC 157 in February for Lawler to turn his flagging career around. Rather than drown in the tidal wave of media coverage that surrounded the first women’s fight in UFC history between Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche, Lawler grabbed his share of the headlines.
Knocking out former title challenger Josh Koscheck not only earned him his first win in the UFC since 2003, but also a cool $50,000 ‘Knockout of the Night’ bonus.
Fast forward to July and the 31-year-old continued his improbable career comeback with another vicious knockout, this time dispatching Bobby Voelker just 24 seconds into the second round at UFC on Fox 8 in Seattle.
So what has been the catalyst for his career renaissance? These days Lawler is reticent, temperate and somewhat distant – a far cry from his explosive, frantic, fighting style. But even when he talks, the reserved striker is all business. He doesn’t mince his words. Lawler hasn’t built a career on superfluous and outlandish quotes; rather he uses his fists.
So when pressed about the factors behind his turnaround in fortunes, Lawler reveals it comes down to the fundamentals: putting the work in and leveraging his experience.
“Hard work pays off,” he explains to FO. “I went out, didn’t take a lot of punishment and made a statement. As long as I get the job done, that’s the main thing. I felt pretty good out there and it showed.”
For the Koscheck fight, Lawler surprised many when he upped sticks and left his base in Iowa, where he has been training since his teens. He relocated his camp to American Top Team’s headquarters in Coconut Creek, Florida, and the results since have been remarkable. Rather than try to mold Lawler into something he’s not, the coaches at ATT refined and tweaked his powerful striking skills, turning the San Diego native into an even more formidable highlight-reel, knockout machine.
“A lot of guys, obviously, have different styles but some of them don’t have the ability to knock people out,” he says. “They go in to fights and look to win points and rounds. Of course, I can’t understand why they would do it, because I can stop people and that’s what I always try to do. I don’t think I will ever change that. Compared to a year ago, my striking feels crisper. I’ve been sparring a lot, doing more to get ready for fights. The ATT guys focused on what I do best: striking. They added a few new things here and there, which made me a better fighter.”
In his early years, Lawler was a protégé of Pat Miletich as part of the Miletich Fighting Systems team before spending some time with Matt Hughes’ HIT Squad and Power MMA in Arizona. So moving to ATT didn’t fill him with any apprehension as he knew he was walking into another first-class camp.
“I knew what to expect. I was looking forward to getting some good sessions with great coaches and the guys there,” he says. “My boxing coach, Matt Pena, flew down to help me out. I went to ATT four weeks before the Koscheck fight, finished my training camp there and things went really well. The training was great and that encouraged me to stay for my last fight.”
Lawler looked every bit a more complete all-rounder against Voelker, a late replacement for Siyar Bahadurzada. After outgunning and outscoring him in the opening round, Lawler used his experience to master his opponent’s timing, early in the second round picking apart and finishing the Kansas City fighter.
With a left head kick to the temple, followed by a thunderous right hand to his fallen foe, Lawler finished the fight and cemented his place as a legitimate contender in the welterweight division. With 15 career wins by KO or TKO, it’s easy to see how Lawler got his ‘Ruthless’ moniker. Like a cerebral assassin, he often knows a fight is over as soon as he lands the right shot.
“You can feel it,” he says with a smile and clench of his fist. “When you throw and connect right, you just know, especially when you see how they initially react to it. A lot of times, when you land a really good shot, you can feel it. Against Voelker, when I connected, I saw by the way he was going down that it was the end.
“I had his timing down from the first round. To knock someone out, at times, you sort of have to throw when they are throwing at you, so I caught him when he was coming in. I threw a head kick thinking he would drop his hands, and that’s exactly what he ended up doing and I caught him with it.”
In typical Lawler fashion, however, he’s not making any rash judgments as regards who he wants to fight next, and his toes are firmly in the soil. It’s not in his nature to be brash or make demands. Instead, he’s just focused on training and trying to become a better fighter. “I just have to wait and see what the UFC want me to do. I’ll just keep working on getting better.”
The other requirements that come with being a UFC fighter – the PR, media requests, social media interactions and other mandatory engagements – are somewhat insignificant to Lawler. For example, he has only tweeted from his Twitter handle less than 150 times. When asked by a fan why his account was not verified, his response was that he simply “doesn’t care.” These are the traits that define the man. He’s rugged, grounded and firmly focused on the aspects of his career that take place inside the cage. Outside influences don’t occupy his thoughts for a long time, although he is more at ease with the extracurricular engagements now than earlier in his career.
However, none of that is going to deter him from his goal as he is laser-focused on doing all that he can to reach the summit of the 170lb division. “There’s a lot of good guys at 170. Top to bottom, it’s one of the best weight classes in the world,” he says. “Georges St Pierre is doing a terrific job staying on top, but I think anyone can be beaten, so if I ever get that fight with him I think I would have a good game plan for him.”
The seamless transition back into the UFC fold is a credit to Lawler’s mentality. Even though he left the organization back in 2004, he has been a familiar face Octagon-side, cornering fighters and training partners. In his time away from the company, he had no problems finding steady work, fighting for IFL, EliteXC and Strikeforce among others. But critically, and unlike so many others, Lawler remained on good terms with UFC management.
And despite making a good living in other promotions – with brutal honesty – Lawler insists he knew he had the skills required to go back and fight against top-level competition some day. Despite a poor end to his 185lb Strikeforce tenure, he never doubted his ability, as he strongly points out.
“I didn’t have any doubts I would be back. What kind of mind-set would that be? There’s no way I would doubt myself. Throughout the years I knew not to burn bridges with them as I knew I could go back someday.” He adds: “I always concentrated on fighting and thought if I did that, the rest will take of itself.”
TIMELINE
1982
Robert Glenn Lawler is born in San Diego, California, to a Filipina mother and American father.
1991
His love for martial arts begins when he starts karate practice at the age of nine.
1992
He makes the move to Bettendorf, Iowa, to live with his father and attends Bettendorf High School where he becomes an all-state linebacker and all-state wrestler.
1998
Meets mentor, former UFC welterweight champion and owner of the Miletich Fighting Systems team, Pat Miletich who takes the youngster under his wing.
2000
Graduates in 2000 and begins training at Miletich Fighting Systems full-time.
2001
A year after graduating from Bettendorf High School and training at Miletich Fighting Systems, Lawler makes his MMA debut. He finishes John Reed within two minutes. He closes out the year with three more victories finishing all the fights in the first round.
2002
Makes his UFC debut against Aaron Riley, decisioning the much more experienced fighter. He went on to fight twice more in 2002 where he finished Steve Berger and Tiki Ghosn.
2003
Lawler suffers his first defeat against Pete Spratt, succumbing to an injury in the second round.
2004
Is finished in back-to-back fights against Nick Diaz and Evan Tanner and is subsequently released from the UFC with a 4-3 record within the promotion.
2005–2006
Returns to winning ways after being released by the UFC, fighting three times and winning both the Icon Sports (later losing it to ‘Mayhem’ Miller) and Superbrawl 185lb titles.
2006–2008
Goes undefeated for two years finishing the likes of Frank Trigg and Scott Smith via KO and earning the EliteXC middleweight title by knocking out Murilo ‘Ninja’ Rua.
2010
Adds two highlight-reel knockouts to his résumé, smashing both Matt Lindland and Melvin Manhoef in the first round. In between those bouts he suffers a decision loss to Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral.
2011
Fights for the Strikeforce middleweight title but is tapped out by ‘Jacare’ Souza in the third round via rear naked choke.
2013
After nine years away, Lawler makes his UFC return at UFC 157 knocking out Josh Koscheck, then Bobby Voelker at UFC on Fox 8.
