It’s hard to believe that Robbie Lawler is only 31 years old. After all, he’s been a professional mixed martial artist since 2001, putting together a career record of 21-9-1. His 21st victory came on Saturday night in an almost-Knockout of the Night performance at UFC on Fox 8.
The fight, against Bobby Voelker, was Lawler’s second fight in his second stint with the UFC. Lawler’s previous go-round with the promotion ran from May 2002 through October 2004. During that time, Lawler went 4-3. Lawler rejoined the UFC when Strikeforce was shuttered after the UFC purchased the organization.
Lawler came back to the UFC with a record of 1-3 in his previous four fights, and he was given a tough fight to welcome him back to the fold when he was matched up against Josh Koscheck. Lawler shocked many by knocking out Koscheck at the three-minute, 57-second mark of Round 1 in that February 2013 bout. That knockout earned Lawler a Knockout of the Night bonus and a top-10 ranking in the welterweight division.
For his next fight, Lawler was originally matched up against Tarec Saffiedine, but an injury to Saffiedine prevented that fight from taking place. Voelker came in on short notice and took the fight. Voelker’s hopes of playing the spoiler were dashed very early in the second round when Lawler landed a vicious head kick that put Voelker on his back.
At the post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White said there was some debate over the Knockout of the Night bonus, but in the end, the award went to Melvin Guillard.
What do you think? Did the correct fighter get the bonus money?
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