UFC 244: 4 historic UFC fights that could've been for a 'BMF Title'

#3 Robbie Lawler vs. Carlos Condit – UFC 195, 2nd January 2016

Robbie Lawler's fight with Carlos Condit was a war for the ages

The first fight on this list that actually had one of the regular UFC titles on the line – in this case, the Welterweight crown was up for grabs – the 2016 clash between Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit would definitely have suited a ‘BMF’ title too.

In the years prior to this fight, Lawler had been involved in three all-time classics, fighting Johny Hendricks (on two occasions) and Rory MacDonald in jaw-dropping brawls, and in the latter two fights it’d been ‘Ruthless Robbie’ with his hand raised.

Condit meanwhile had garnered a reputation for being one of the most aggressive fighters in MMA history ever since his WEC run of 2007-08, and his nickname ‘The Natural Born Killer’ couldn’t have been better suited to him.

Neither man had the attitude of a Masvidal or Diaz outside the cage – both Lawler and Condit were recognised as “nice guys” – but inside the cage both had the ability to flip a switch and become very scary indeed.

In this fight, the switch was flipped for both men, and we were treated to one of the greatest wars in UFC history. Condit drew first blood – knocking Lawler down with a left hand in the first round – but the Ruthless One evened the score in the second by sending Condit to the mat with a crushing right hook.

The subsequent rounds were simply too wild to call, with both men throwing everything they had at one another, exchanging huge shots with neither showing any quarter. By the end of the fifth round, Lawler was practically knocking Condit around the Octagon with his punches, but just couldn’t put him away.

The fight ended with both men slumped across the fence of the cage, simply exhausted with nothing left to give. Lawler was awarded a decision victory, retaining his Welterweight title, but had a ‘BMF’ title been on the line, you could’ve given it to either fighter and not been wrong.