What Really Happened at UFC 189 (Robbie Lawler vs Rory MacDonald 2) excellent fight break down

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I have 2 questions for you guys about maybe the best fight EVER in MMA! (every time I watch the fight it´s always exciting).

1 - What do you think were Lawler and Rory's strategy and plans for that fight??
2 - Do you agree Rory was winning the fight until Lawler TKOed him in the 5th???


The video was posted last month but I didn´t have time to watch it until now. Imo this kind of break downs really help understand a lot about fighting, sometimes more than you would learn in your day-to-day martial arts class.

Truth is, in fights like this a back and forth war, there are so many things happening at the same time, that it´s hard to understand what the fighters are trying to do and what´s really going on in terms of strategy and technique. I like to watch this guy's break downs, he sounds like a knowledgeable guy explaining what he thinks happened throughout the fight. Anyways, if you didn´t have the opportunity, enjoy it.



 
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yeah its my goat fight. rorys my favorite fighter so i am biased but i had rory up 3 to 1 going into round 5. the finish was a bit anti climatic but still a great fight with a lot of top level technique and skill on display.
 
I became a Rory fan after the fight.

I had it Rory 3-1 going into the 5th

Lawler was an absolute mad man getting rocked and laughing about it
 
yeah its my goat fight. rorys my favorite fighter so i am biased but i had rory up 3 to 1 going into round 5. the finish was a bit anti climatic but still a great fight with a lot of top level technique and skill on display.

My sentiments exactly. One of my all time favorite fights by one of my favorite fighters (homer to Canadians).
 
Also had it 3-1 going into the fifth but Lawler is a monster
 
It was an accumulation of a beat down
 
I wanted to hug both of them (maybe wait a few mins for Lawler cause his face was scary at the end)
 
i havent seen the fight in a while, but...

i dont recall teh fight being as one sided as many people thought it was. i admit rory was up, but joe and others made it sound like he was brutalizing lawler--he was in spurts, but i thought it was more even than others did.

as far as gameplan, i have no doubt that robbie had one, but the sunabitch is so fuckin tough, a part of the gameplan can be "keep fighting" and be tough. of course, this was bit him in teh ass in the woodley fight--it was a good strike, and i am not suggesting that robbie planned on just eating the strike, but his defense (sometimes sub par) has benefited a lot from just being a grizzly, tough dude.

as far as rory, he is a tough guy, and he is also a very smart and calculated fighter. Nevertheless, i have no doubt that he got rattled or his resolve took a hit when he hit robbie so cleanly so many times and robbie just laughs and keeps coming.

im a tough guy, and i have watched combat sports and studied pugilists for some time (i remember tuf 13 and ufc 151), and there are times when you hit a man and he shakes his head to act as though he isnt hurt when he really is.

he might shake his head or smirk, but then favour his lead leg, or the body, but robbie took some big hard shots, smiled or cackled, and kept coming--that fucks with a person.

hats off to both guys, but i think ruthless broke rory, and i do not say that with an ounce of disrespect for rory at all.
 
i havent seen the fight in a while, but...

i dont recall teh fight being as one sided as many people thought it was. i admit rory was up, but joe and others made it sound like he was brutalizing lawler--he was in spurts, but i thought it was more even than others did.

as far as gameplan, i have no doubt that robbie had one, but the sunabitch is so fuckin tough, a part of the gameplan can be "keep fighting" and be tough. of course, this was bit him in teh ass in the woodley fight--it was a good strike, and i am not suggesting that robbie planned on just eating the strike, but his defense (sometimes sub par) has benefited a lot from just being a grizzly, tough dude.

as far as rory, he is a tough guy, and he is also a very smart and calculated fighter. Nevertheless, i have no doubt that he got rattled or his resolve took a hit when he hit robbie so cleanly so many times and robbie just laughs and keeps coming.

im a tough guy, and i have watched combat sports and studied pugilists for some time (i remember tuf 13 and ufc 151), and there are times when you hit a man and he shakes his head to act as though he isnt hurt when he really is.

he might shake his head or smirk, but then favour his lead leg, or the body, but robbie took some big hard shots, smiled or cackled, and kept coming--that fucks with a person.

hats off to both guys, but i think ruthless broke rory, and i do not say that with an ounce of disrespect for rory at all.
Totally remember it the same way. I thought it was pretty even and Robbie just broke Rory's will in the 5th.
 
I was wasted on the vacation of my life at this fight live with 3 of my best friendd. It'll prolly always be my favorite fight for that reason and the fact that it was incredible obviously
 
I feel Robbie was clearly winning the fight, I also had the feeling both Rory and Robbie knew it, if Rory felt he had the fight I don't think he would have crumbled in the 5th but hard to say since Robbie really punished him during the fight, even Big John was worried about McDonald's health
 
Lawler was an absolute mad man getting rocked and laughing about it
I tink that is what broke Rory. It wasn't like his nose could rebreak after it was broken. That Lawler insanity just made him be like "what the fuck? This guy is an absolute psychotic terminator".......RoMac threw everything he had at him and the more he hit him, the more Lawler got more crazy and insane; like he were a gremlin, responding to violence and pain the way a gremlin responds to water.
 
1. I thought Rory should have taken it to the ground at some point. Robbie turned the fight in a toughman contest and that was exactly what he was looking for.

2. 2-2 going into the 5th and give the momentum to Rory.
 
i havent seen the fight in a while, but...

i dont recall teh fight being as one sided as many people thought it was. i admit rory was up, but joe and others made it sound like he was brutalizing lawler--he was in spurts, but i thought it was more even than others did.

as far as gameplan, i have no doubt that robbie had one, but the sunabitch is so fuckin tough, a part of the gameplan can be "keep fighting" and be tough. of course, this was bit him in teh ass in the woodley fight--it was a good strike, and i am not suggesting that robbie planned on just eating the strike, but his defense (sometimes sub par) has benefited a lot from just being a grizzly, tough dude.

as far as rory, he is a tough guy, and he is also a very smart and calculated fighter. Nevertheless, i have no doubt that he got rattled or his resolve took a hit when he hit robbie so cleanly so many times and robbie just laughs and keeps coming.

im a tough guy, and i have watched combat sports and studied pugilists for some time (i remember tuf 13 and ufc 151), and there are times when you hit a man and he shakes his head to act as though he isnt hurt when he really is.

he might shake his head or smirk, but then favour his lead leg, or the body, but robbie took some big hard shots, smiled or cackled, and kept coming--that fucks with a person.

hats off to both guys, but i think ruthless broke rory, and i do not say that with an ounce of disrespect for rory at all.
Nice post, man. Rory was landing more volume, but he doesn´t have the same kind of power that Lawler has. And damn! that shot that broke Rory´s nose was fucking nasty. BOOM! Rory is a warrior man. Imagine eating this kind of shot over and over in your broken nose for 5 rounds! WTF!!!!
RapidBitterEmu.gif
 
I tink that is what broke Rory. It wasn't like his nose could rebreak after it was broken. That Lawler insanity just made him be like "what the fuck? This guy is an absolute psychotic terminator".......RoMac threw everything he had at him and the more he hit him, the more Lawler got more crazy and insane; like he were a gremlin, responding to violence and pain the way a gremlin responds to water.
I 1st saw this video like yesterday and I was fucking SHOCKED with Lawler's answer, man. I´d expect maybe a thumb´s up at best. Jesus Christ, how can you not love this man!
 
I feel Robbie was clearly winning the fight, I also had the feeling both Rory and Robbie knew it, if Rory felt he had the fight I don't think he would have crumbled in the 5th but hard to say since Robbie really punished him during the fight, even Big John was worried about McDonald's health
Yeah, and he was right. He said he was worried about Rory´s broken nose from round 1. Which makes Rory´s performance even more incredible if you think about. He got his nose totally busted in the 1st round and fought the whole 5 rounds eating nasty shots in that same broken nose. But a human being can only take so much.
tumblr_nrj9dj2f7i1s0kh4wo1_r2_400.gif
 
1. I thought Rory should have taken it to the ground at some point. Robbie turned the fight in a toughman contest and that was exactly what he was looking for.

2. 2-2 going into the 5th and give the momentum to Rory.
He tried a few times!!!! Take a look at 12:30 in the video where Lawler shows why he has the best sprawl in the whole UFC.
 
i havent seen the fight in a while, but...

i dont recall teh fight being as one sided as many people thought it was. i admit rory was up, but joe and others made it sound like he was brutalizing lawler--he was in spurts, but i thought it was more even than others did.

as far as gameplan, i have no doubt that robbie had one, but the sunabitch is so fuckin tough, a part of the gameplan can be "keep fighting" and be tough. of course, this was bit him in teh ass in the woodley fight--it was a good strike, and i am not suggesting that robbie planned on just eating the strike, but his defense (sometimes sub par) has benefited a lot from just being a grizzly, tough dude.

as far as rory, he is a tough guy, and he is also a very smart and calculated fighter. Nevertheless, i have no doubt that he got rattled or his resolve took a hit when he hit robbie so cleanly so many times and robbie just laughs and keeps coming.

im a tough guy, and i have watched combat sports and studied pugilists for some time (i remember tuf 13 and ufc 151), and there are times when you hit a man and he shakes his head to act as though he isnt hurt when he really is.

he might shake his head or smirk, but then favour his lead leg, or the body, but robbie took some big hard shots, smiled or cackled, and kept coming--that fucks with a person.

hats off to both guys, but i think ruthless broke rory, and i do not say that with an ounce of disrespect for rory at all.
Fortunately, I don't think he" broke Rory"......he just caved in his septum and don't think Rory ever felt that degree of pain and his consciousness left the building. Rory should've taken a step (or 2) backwards in order to take several steps forward. UFC should be his home but I guess they were willing to let him expire and watch him at Bellator where they can attain his services at a later date if they choose to. Come Saturday, UFC has 14 days to re-sign Gegard (Mousasi).
It's my opinion that post USADA, he's one of the top 2-3 middleweight s in the world and one of the top dozen pound for pound mmartists- in the world. This going to get interesting if new owners commit enormous brain fart and let Coker have free line of communication with Mousasi.
 
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I never thought Robbie was close to being finished in that fight. Rory took 80% of the damage in that fight. Robbie power slowly broke him down. Didn't Rory make a statement prefight saying his will would never break. His heart was shown throughout the fight but the accumulation/power broke him down in the end.
 
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