UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Lawler - 5 most 'Ruthless' moments of Robbie Lawler

#2 His crazy war with Carlos Condit

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

After defeating Hendricks for the Welterweight crown, Lawler defended his title against Rory MacDonald in a war for the ages – more on that later – before taking a few months off. When he returned in January 2016, he was faced with a challenger known for being just as aggressive – and ‘Ruthless’ – as he was: the man known as ‘The Natural Born Killer’, Carlos Condit.

Fans came into the fight expecting a crazy amount of violence and they weren’t disappointed. The two men threw everything they had at one another for the full 25 minutes, and when the final buzzer sounded at the end of the fifth round, it was a wonder how either man was still standing. The lasting image of both men slumped on the Octagon fence in exhaustion remains jaw-dropping to this day.

But it was Lawler who came away with his hand raised, despite some sticky moments. He was actually dropped in the first round by a short left hand from Condit, but came back in the second with the best moment of the fight; an incredible right hook counterpunch that dropped the challenger and came close to putting him out. The third and fourth rounds were almost too close to call; Lawler doing more damage with his shots but Condit putting together more volume. Essentially, the fight was going to the wire.

And it was in the fifth round that Lawler largely pulled out the win. Despite Condit pouring it on with combinations that appeared to have come straight from Mortal Kombat at times, Lawler hung tough and then began to hit the challenger with insanely hard shots that literally knocked him from pillar to post, making it anyone’s guess what exactly was keeping Condit vertical.

When all was said and done, most fans couldn’t quite believe the quality of the war they’d just witnessed – another instant classic from Lawler – and it was no surprise that most people declared it likely to be the best fight of 2016 – despite the year being just 2 days old.