Robbie Lawler Could Have Been Great

Quote :

When Robbie Lawler
entered the MMA scene, there were massive expectations placed on him.
As a member of the famed Miletich Fighting Systems, he was supposed to
follow Pat Miletich and Matt Hughes as the next great welterweight out of the camp, which also included Jens Pulver, Jeremy Horn, and Tim Sylvia.
At the beginning of his career it quickly became apparent that he
possessed a natural knockout power that was rare among the MFS
wrestlers. After going 4-0 in the smaller shows around the United
States, he was given the call to make his debut at UFC 37 against Aaron
Riley.

The fight against Aaron Riley would see Lawler go to decision for the
first time in his MMA career, though it was a completely one sided
fight. His next fight in the UFC was at 37.5, a last minute event
promoted for television purposes, against Steve Berger.
Lawler would win by TKO in the second round and the fight would become
the first Mixed Martial Arts fight ever to air on cable television in
the United States. He would follow this win up by knocking out perennial
MMA punchline Tiki Ghosen in the first round. This fight in of itself
is great because Ghosen is clearly out and then tried to plead
afterwards that he had Lawler right where he wanted him and the fight
was only stopped because of a cut. It was absurd and cemented Robbie as
the as the future of the division.

With these exciting wins, Lawler was understandably a favorite of the
UFC ownership and was expected to be the next big thing in the sport.
Unfortunately, his next bout, a throwaway against Pete Spratt, showed a
glaring weakness in Lawler's game: his inability to check leg kicks.
This bout had many questioning his overall heart as he verbally quit due
to the cumulative damage. It also would also call into question both
his training methods and development as a fighter. He would bounce back
with his decision win over Chris Lytle at UFC 45 but that would be the last time he'd have a win within the UFC. He'd lose to Nick Diaz
by knockout after being subjected to the pitter-patter boxing and
taunting that has become a Diaz staple. A move up to Middleweight saw
him defeated by Evan Tanner by Triangle choke, cementing the position that Lawler had ignored submission grappling at MFS.

After being cut by the UFC, Lawler would find himself in the Icon
Sport Middleweight Title triangle after winning the belt against
Falaniko Vitale. Jason Miller submitted him by arm triangle, who would lose to Frank Trigg by soccer kicks, who lost to Lawler by knockout. He found success in the defunct EliteXC capturing the Middleweight belt from the now retired Murilo Rua; however, once the promotion failed and the pieces were purchased by Strikeforce, again Lawler would fall on hard times. He was quickly submitted by Jake Shields by a guillotine choke, picked apart by Melvin Manhoef before landing a hail mary punch, and drop a decision to Renato Sobral. He was able to knockout Matt Lindland but couldn't keep a streak going, being choked out by Ronaldo Souza early this year.

Robbie Lawler is a victim of his own abilities. He possesses strong
wrestling and at the early stage of his career was one of the most
highly touted prospects out of the Miletich camp. Where Matt Hughes and
Pat Miletich took advantage of their wrestling skills to become UFC
champions, Lawler adopted the same tactics as Jens Pulver. His lack of
development in grappling has been the cause of some extremely
embarrassing losses and even after seven years, he still hasn't figured
out how to check leg kicks. When he first appeared in the UFC, he was
considered by all to be the next big thing in MMA. The fact that he
never amounted to the great fighter many thought he'd be isn't due to
career mismanagement but because of a lack of desire to game plan
intelligently. He chose to be entertaining instead of smart and that has
been detrimental to his standing in MMA.

BloodyElbow

IDK I personally like how Robbie fights. Does it lose him fights at times? Yes, but he is damn fun to watch! Both him and Gurgel are alike in that way IMO, they kinda suffer because they choose to be exciting stand up guys instead of taking it to the mat.

I don't really understand the point of the article.
The fact that Lawler is a mediocre fighter isn't due to his desire to be exciting, it's due to him being a mediocre fighter.

He has lost fights in every way possible; it's not like opponents just found a weakness and exploited it over and over again. He has been KO'd, submitted, decisioned, etc.....and it has been done throughout his career, from start to present.
I think the first line of the article pretty much sums up the problem;
There were massive expectations placed on him (due to his KO power). Unfortunately, he didn't live up to those expectations, but I don't agree that those expectations were justified.

Quite the contrary, I think he made himself a career on what people thought he was able to accomplish, and IMO was given more chances than he deserved to prove himself (mostly in the other orgs after his UFC release). But he has proved over and over again that he's not that guy.

Pretty much agree Trig. You summed it up well, he could have been great...but he's just not.

Kennedy is going to take him down and submit him in the first round.