“It’s more exciting because I showed everyone I’m a true fighter, I come to fight, no matter what happens I keep coming and I’m trying to knock people out!”

Robbie Lawler screamed, voice cracking, with a swollen cheek, bruised eyes and severed lip after his hand had been raised and he’d retained his UFC 170lb title following the most incredible championship fight in MMA history. His opponent, Rory MacDonald, had barely managed to stand up off his stool seconds before. Broken nose, broken foot, almost blinded by the blood pouring from his face. He had been pushed past his limit.

What makes this back-and-forth bloodfest stand above all others is that it was simply unforgettable.

Watching 21 minutes of this unbelievable battle will have left its mark on anyone who watched it, though not as much as it did on the two men that took part in it.

“It was an awesome experience,” Lawler tells. “He let it all hang out that day and he did a great job. Obviously, it was high on the list [of his greatest moments in MMA]… I was just able to showcase to the rest of the world what I am capable of and the kind of fighter I am.”

Though ‘Ruthless’ lost the first round, he enjoyed the first period of real dominance in the fight, causing major damage with lethal straight punches. The effect of these blows would take its toll later.

But to retain the belt, Lawler had to come from behind. The tide turned in a flash as he reeled from MacDonald high kick that penetrated his defenses and opened him up to an onslaught of punches and elbows. Parity was almost restored in the subsequent stanza, but that didn’t stop him from being three rounds to one down by all three judges’ reckoning. Each man had to dig deep within their souls to summon the strength, courage and fortitude to survive the next five minutes.

Somehow, Lawler could.

“I think it’s just a fear of leaving it in the judges’ hands,” he adds. “That’s what pushes me to work and push for the finish in the final round. It’s the last round so I leave it all out there and go for the finish…I feel I’ve got so much more than the other fighter. I have great energy, and that comes down to my coaching, both S&C and fight coaches. Those guys get me ready to showcase my skills and I take so much confidence from that. I know I can go hard in the final round, because I have the energy levels to do it.

“It’s all just figuring out a way to get the job done… You are just doing the best you can and trying to figure out a way to win.”

The way Lawler ended the fourth by defiantly spitting blood on the canvas and staring his challenger down with murder in his eyes offered some clue about how ready he was. MacDonald had the same belief in his heart, but his body wouldn’t comply. A straight left shattered what was left of the Canadian’s nose and made him crumble. Though he later described the bout as the “best time of my life”, he was left broken on the mat as the champ wheeled away in celebration that was almost as intense as the action he’d been a part of.

“That was the accumulation of a beatdown,” Lawler screamed at Joe Rogan. “That wasn’t one punch, that was years of fighting right there coming to fruition.!” Everything about the fight was awe-inspiring. It’s the pinnacle of world-championship fighting. The effort both had to show to persevere through it all went beyond anything we’ve ever seen before in a cage or any other sport. It was matched, too, by the ability they also needed to do so – in the modern era at the very highest level as complete mixed martial artists.

With heart, soul, mind, body and spirit on the line, unrelenting action and a level of brutality that made the stakes, the compulsion to watch and the awe-inspiring spectacle even greater, there’s no fight that can match this.