#5 Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit
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At UFC 195, we were fortunate to witness an extremely interesting match up but also one that would turn out to be a collision between two men on their own respective missions.
After defending his Welterweight title by putting up an impressive performance against Rory McDonald in 2015, which was the fight of the year for most fans, Robbie Lawler left no tables unturned in the fight against fellow veteran Carlos Condit as they went to war on the first card of the year in UFC 195.
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The natural born killer Carlos Condit is what Georges St. Pierre calls "a stylistic nightmare" for most fighters in the Welterweight division. Having a very well-rounded game with slick jiu-jitsu drastically improved takedown defence and an extreme variety of attacks in the stand-up department, no one has ever made the mistake of imagining just running over a veteran in Carlos Condit.
And Robbie Lawler can definitely testify to this. After moving over to American Top Team, Lawler experienced an extreme surge in his game as well and was ready to take on Condit in this highly anticipated bout.
The fight began in a slow fashion with neither fighter showing initiative to be the aggressor, as they were painfully aware of the other's finishing ability. After a round of feinting, data collection and non-eventful strikes, Condit was the first one to start pulling the trigger.
Exhibiting a wide variety of attacks from flying knees, spinning back fists and inside leg kicks to the Jackson-Wink camp's trademark oblique kick to the knee and step-in elbows, Condit had Lawler in trouble at various times in the fight.
In response, Lawler kept calm and answered with relatively orthodox but well-timed shots, many of which sent Condit to the canvas and made him hesitant.
After a mesmerising set of 4 rounds and realising that he may very well be behind on the scorecard, Lawler put on a show, in what could easily be called one of the best rounds in 2016 in the final five minutes. Condit displayed his heart and iron chin in the face of adversity and took Lawler's best shots like a champion.
As the horn blew, signalling the end of the fight, both fighters were so exhausted that they could barely stand and took the support of the cage, in what could be called one of the most iconic moments in MMA in 2016.
