Even longtime mixed martial arts fans might have trouble remembering their first exposure to Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit. It was as if suddenly, they parachuted into the fight landscape as projects designed to strip fighting to its most intense and basic essence.
This is the polite way of saying it. In more colloquial terms, they are a couple of savages—two of the purest fighters who have graced the Octagon.
In the wake of the seismic aftershocks left by Holly Holm’s thunderkick and Conor McGregor’s smashing left, the fight world seems full of possibilities but short on focus. We’re still in the afterglow. That is why Lawler-Condit is perfect for this moment in time. Who better to re-center our attention than a pair of fighters who have made careers out of ferocity over flash?
Ronda Rousey was a one-woman event. Conor McGregor is a one-man show. Those phenomenons have their places, and in some ways prove that the entertainment sub-category of sports can be bigger than the sport itself.
But Lawler-Condit is back to basics—a renewal of why we watch.
Will it draw huge numbers? Probably not. But should it? If you truly like fighting, this matchup between two men with a combined 87.5 percent finishing rate should have you positively giddy with anticipation.
Lawler’s sledgehammer fists against Condit’s elbows of doom. What’s not to love, except for the lack of attention?
“Nothing bothers me. I don’t care about being overshadowed,” Lawler said during a recent media call. “I like creeping up on people, being the quiet guy just coming to fight, going to war, coming to battle. I’ve never been in this game to be in the spotlight. I’m in this game because I love it. I love fighting, I love competing, I love pushing myself. When push comes to shove, I’m always on the stage.
“On the biggest stage, I’m going to be the guy who’s showcasing my skill, and I’m going to shine bright. That’s what I’m focused on. I’m not worried about what I’m not getting, I’m worried about what I’m going to get. Everyone else is doing great things, but so am I. This sport is going to continue to grow. There’s going to be different stars out there, and I’ll get my chance to shine.”
At 33 years old, Lawler (26-10, 1 no-contest) is not old, but just going by the numbers suggests he’s probably on the back side of the bell curve and has been for a while, according to analysis provided by Erik Malinowski of Wired. That makes his recent revival all the more outstanding.
For a time it seemed he would be some kind of cautionary tale, a one-time wunderkind who made it to the UFC by 20 but never quite reached his rumored potential. And then came his return to the UFC, and everything changed. His new camp rounded out his game, his fight IQ caught up to his athletic skills and all of the potential exploded to the surface.
The refined package boasts sublime striking, an active ground game and overhauled wrestling skills that allow him to boast the highest takedown percentage, 80 percent, in UFC history, according to Fight Metric.
“I think he’s definitely the most dangerous guy I’ve ever faced,” Condit (30-8) said during a media call. “He’s super skilled, but he’s also got the power and experience—and he’s a smart fighter—so I’m going to have to be on my A-game.”
The same goes for Lawler.
Condit is cerebral and measured—he recently acknowledged his use of analytics in his fight preparation, which is a rarity in MMA circles—but he also has the propensity to shuck all that and fight from the heart. To see that, all you have to do is witness his last-minute finish of Rory MacDonald in a fight he was losing, his flying knee KO of Dong Hyun Kim and his high-noon left-hook showdown with Dan Hardy.
The theme of mano a mano is prevalent in their careers.
For Lawler, just think of that moment when he and MacDonald stared each other down at the end of Round 4 of their grueling bout last July. His lip sliced in half…his body painted in blood, it sent chills down the spine of a sport.
The intensity of the fight just seems magnified with these two.
One is a savage puncher; the other is a terrifying finisher. Simon Head of the Sun has already projected this bout has fight of the year written all over it:
Strip away all the flash of promotion, remove all the pomp and dim the bright lights and these two capture the essence of what professional mixed martial arts is in a way few ever have.
“It’s a fight. They’re going to lock us in a cage and me and Robbie Lawler are going to try to kill each other,” Condit said during a Wednesday media workout. “I think we’re two of the most skilled guys in the division for sure, if not the sport, and I think we’re going to go in there and put on a display of violence and aggression that people won’t soon forget.”
Their records suggest that isn’t hyperbole, and besides, Condit isn’t the type for braggadocio.
It probably will be exactly what he says it will be, which means Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit are about to write an ode to violence. It’s not the spectacle of a Ronda Rousey event or a Conor McGregor show, but for 25 minutes, it might be better.
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