Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) invaded Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., this past weekend (Sat., Aug. 3, 2019) to stage UFC on ESPN 5. Plenty of fighters were left licking their wounds, including Clay Guida, who was rocked and choked out by Jim Miller in just 58 second of their co-headlining Lightweight bout (highlights). And Joaquim Silva, who was knocked out by Nasrat Haqparast in the first round.
But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Robbie Lawler.
Coming into his headlining bout against Colby Covington, “Ruthless” had plenty on the line, like trying to erase the memory of the devastating and controversial loss to Ben Askren earlier this year. Plus, since leaving American Top Team (ATT), Lawler has had to hear it from Covington in the media, as “Chaos” would constantly clown “Ruthless” for abandoning the gym.
And even though Lawler was adamant the chatter wouldn’t get to him, he wanted nothing more than to get a big win over Covington and his old team. And let’s not forget trying to avoid going down 0-3 in his last three fights. Unfortunately for Lawler, he didn’t have much to offer Covington, as “Chaos” took it to him from the jump, putting out massive numbers in strikes and takedowns to earn an easy unanimous decision win and a shot at the division strap (highlights).
While Covington did his part in naturalizing Lawler’s attack, there were times when “Ruthless” didn’t fire off when he had the chance. Other than a few bright spots here and there, Lawler never really hit Colby with anything of note. As a result, Lawler now finds himself the owner of a three-fight losing steak, the first of his career. In fact, since 2016 Lawler is just 1-4 with his lone win coming against Donald Cerrone back in 2017.
At 37 years of age, Lawler is far from done, and he has the skill-set and power to reel of rapid-fire wins to get him back in the mix. Unfortunately, he fights at Welterweight, and that is perhaps the most talent-rich division under the UFC banner at the moment, which means his climb up will be pretty tough.
A good starting point will be facing off against Stephen Thompson.
Lawler and “Wonderboy” were linked for a potential showdown a few years ago during Stephen’s back-to-back fights with then-champion, Tyron Woodley. Thompson wasn’t shy in expressing his desire to face off against the fearsome striker, but for one reason or another, it simply never came to be.
Sure, Thompson has eyes for Rafael dos Anjos at the moment — a fight I initially wanted, as well — but now that Lawler came up short against Covington, I’d much rather see this showdown. Both men need wins in a big way to stop the bleeding of their losing skids. Plus, they always prefer to let the action play out on the feet. And who doesn’t like to watch that?
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