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

#1 The greatest war of them all against Rory MacDonald

Lawler's war with Rory MacDonald may have been the greatest fight in UFC history

Lawler’s fight with top contender Rory MacDonald in November of 2013 had been a good one – a back-and-forth fight that saw Lawler pull away late in the fight to make a decision – but nothing could’ve prepared UFC fans for how good their rematch would be. Booked at arguably the biggest UFC show to that point – UFC 189 – Lawler was now the UFC Welterweight champion while MacDonald had re-established himself as the #1 contender after three straight wins.

Strangely enough, the fight had a relatively slow start; the first round was fought at a tepid pace with both men seemingly not wanting to take any risks. In the second though, Lawler began to find his range and busted MacDonald up largely with his left hand. By midway through the third MacDonald’s nose was a mess, and it appeared to be Lawler’s fight to lose. Somehow though, he almost did.

MacDonald caught him with a head kick towards the end of the round, sending him stumbling back, and suddenly Lawler was in trouble, with the challenger swarming on him with elbows and punches, sensing a finish. Somehow Lawler survived the round despite looking out on his feet, but the fourth started in the same way; MacDonald hurting him with another head kick and then swarming for the finish. Again Lawler survived, but not without taking damage – his face was covered in blood and his lip appeared to be hanging off.

How the Ruthless one ever came back remains a mystery – but he did, and midway through the fourth round he somehow began to turn the tide, seemingly with nothing else but pure, primal aggression. He appeared to be snarling at MacDonald and began to land the better strikes on the challenger, who seemed almost amazed that Lawler was still coming at him. When the round ended, Lawler spat blood onto the floor before staring at MacDonald wildly. The Canadian stared right back, but it was clear that in the final round, something had to give.

That ‘something’ turned out to be MacDonald’s tolerance for sheer pain. Both men came out swinging, but just one minute into the round, Lawler hurt Rory with a couple of left hands before landing one directly to the nose. MacDonald collapsed in a heap, simply unable to take any more, and a few punches on the ground sealed the deal.

The Las Vegas crowd erupted at the sight of a bloody Lawler, lip hanging off, roaring in celebration; they knew they’d just witnessed one of the greatest fights in UFC history. Even four years on, it’s one of those fights that’s so good, it’s quite hard to explain it in words. Anyone who considers themselves a UFC fan has surely seen it.

But more to the point, it still encapsulates the best parts of Robbie Lawler – a fighter who simply doesn’t know how to quit, who lives and dies by sheer primal violence inside the cage. A fighter who always lives up to that ‘Ruthless’ nickname. And hopefully this weekend, he’ll live up to it again.