Lawler not only started early and fought for a long time (such fighters aren’t that hard to find), he once fought in the UFC when the organization was going through dark, hungry times, and fighting was seen as entertainment clandestine. In May 2002, Robbie was at the same tournament with the first Russians: Amar Suloev and Andrey Semenov. In 2004, 22-year-old Lawler lost by knockout to 20-year-old Nick Diaz.
Then he fights for a long time in the Strikeforce league, joins the UFC and leads an exemplary title campaign: from 2014 to 2016, Lawler chained five victories, a good fight with Rory McDonald and a belt taken from Carlos Condit. After that, something changes – Lawler has two wins in eight fights and there can only be two excuses. Even former UFC champions usually have very tough opponents (Lawler fights Covington, dos Anjos, Askren and Woodley). Also, imperceptibly in 2022, Robbie turned 40.
– Many fans write to fighters over 40 “Why are you still fighting?”. Can you explain what motivates you at 41 to keep fighting?
“I’ve been doing this for a very long time and now I like it. Apparently it’s time to end this activity, but I like to train, I like to keep in shape. That’s the secret of my longevity in this sport: I do what I love.
– One of your most popular fights in Russia was against Rory McDonald, when you punched yourself really hard for four rounds and in the fifth round Rory just sat and closed after your punches. Have you often watched this fight?
– Not a lot. I think I watched my fight with Rory 4-5 times.
– You have a very photogenic lip gloss there. Does it bother you a lot in combat?
– Not to say that this cut on the lip caused inconvenience and pain: just a cut and blood, none of that. It didn’t hurt.
– What was the most difficult moment for you in this fight?
– Of course, the most difficult moment of this fight was the haikick when Rory shot and punched. The leg flew to the back of the head, I was driven. But I was able to recover and recover. Also, he hit well with his elbows a few times, including cutting his lip with his elbow, but surviving the high kick was the hardest.
– You posted a photo with him not so long ago. Do you communicate?
– I see him from time to time, he was training in our room, preparing for one of his fights. There we met.
– In Russia, you are remembered very well for your fight against Adlan Amagov. Do you remember this fight (Lawler vs Amagov fight was at Strikeforce tournament on Jan 7, 2012, at that time Amagov only lost one fight (against Alexey Oleinik) and was on a 10 win streak )?
– Yes I remember.
– There was an episode where Adlan hit you with an illegal knee, and you took a break for about two minutes, then almost immediately won by knockout. Did Adlan hit you hard?
– No, actually he didn’t hit me hard with his knee, and I just took my time, played the game, tried to make sure that everything was fine for me and that I could fully return to the fight .
– You hit with a knee when jumping – was it invented before the fight, at the time of a stoppage, or just happened on the machine?
– I just went for a high kick, and I happened to hit him with a knee to the head, and managed to knock him out, but he’s a very tough opponent. I found the perfect move that allowed me to take down a very, very serious opponent that few people knew so easily at the time.
– Did you hear that Adlan hit Jon Jones with a liver shot during practice? Jones himself spoke about this when he came to Russia.
– Yes, I knew very well that he is a very tough fighter, and what he did after our fight is incredibly impressive (Amagov won four fights, including a fight in the UFC. – ). I know he still fought for a while and then for no reason he just decided to end his career.
Have you ever read why he graduated at 30?
– Yes, I can’t say that I followed his career closely, in general, I’m not a person like that. I’m not particularly interested in this sport to watch what happens, but I’ll say it again – he’s a very tough fighter. Very strong.
— Your current opponent, Niko Price, is training in Florida. Have you seen before?
– No, Niko was in our gym, he came once a week or two, but I didn’t train with them.
– Price is nine years younger than you and has spent half as many fights. Is it his advantage or yours?
“It all depends on how prepared I am. If I’m in good shape, if everything goes well on the day of the fight, then I can beat anyone.
– You started to fight in 2002, you were UFC champion and you saw several generations of athletes. Who would you call the strongest fighter in the category up to 77 kg right now?
– There are especially many strong fighters in the welterweight division. Naturally top 2 (Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman). Another [ваш] guys, I don’t remember his name (maybe Shavkat Rakhmonov or Khamzat Chimaev. – “”). Jason Jackson trains with me, he fights in another league, but he’s a very good fighter. In general, the welterweight division has always been distinguished by athletic and versatile fighters, so it has always been one of the most prestigious weight divisions.
— There are 46 users named Robbie Lawler on the popular Russian social network VKontakte, and most of them have your photo in their profile picture. Have you heard of it and what do you think?
“If it’s out of respect and not just guys pretending to be someone they’re not, then that’s cool. Today the UFC has such a global reach that a lot of people see my fights and appreciate my fighting style and if they show respect like that in other countries, that’s very cool.
Live broadcasts of the Mixed Martial Arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
