How has Robbie Lawler had such great longevity as an MMA contender?

[Taric]

ATT gave him their special sauce.
Also there was a 10 year gap where he wasn't a contender.

 

[SimplyStupid]

 

[Swoliosis]

Srsly? Came as a surprise to me.

Yeah I remember reading about it. The guys at miletich used to pound each other behind the barn pretty hard. Hard sparring shortens your career.

 

[Hester65]

Thick skull

 

[HwoarangStyle]

Peds

 

[jeff7b9]

Has INSANELY under rated defense.

Robbie evolved so much as a fighter over the years and doesn't get anywhere near the credit he deserves for it.

Watch the cowboy fight, he slips, blocks or deflects the vast majority of strikes that Cowboy threw at him.

He does have a great chin, and cutting back sparring certainly may have helped but he also has amazing cardio and conditioning which is a big part of the whole "great chin" thing. He is able to recover because of his great cardio and his strength and flexibility definitely help him absorb shots too.

You'd be hard pressed to find fighters who improved more than Robbie did [] in his 30s [] 20+ fights into his career.

Went from brawler to boxer to very complete MMA fighter with ability to use angles and incorporate kicks and strikes from traditional martial arts and muay Thai.

And in addition to all that he is a very smart veteran, wise enough to take a long break after the Woodley ko losss.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

Lawler had stopped sparring for 5-6 years, but this was a while ago, before he even came back to UFC.

he had stopped sparring somewhere around the Joey Villasenor fight, but once he joined ATT, he started sparring again.

 

[Rolento]

the interviewer called tiki on his shit too

 

[Gambit MMA]

Him and Cerrone have both said they've cut out sparring.

guys over due it. and the funny thing is there are guys that go full on in sparring and put wear and tear on their bodies and it doesnt improve them as a fighter. it about practicing the right techniques and understanding how to win fights. just sparring over and over if you have the same flaws isnt gonna make you better

 

[White belt and pants]

He doesn't spar. Was pretty young when he started

 

[sonofjay817]

Was randomly watching UFC videos and saw this (time-stamped for the KO )



It's amazing how Robbie is still in the UFC and fighting at such a high level. He has been fighting since the era of fucking Tiki Ghosn. Just to give you an idea during that time the era of BJ Penn V Matt Hughes was just starting. Andrei Arlovski hadn't even begun his infamous run yet and Anderson Silva and GSP were no names at the time.

Is there any one else with this type of longevity in MMA history? Oddly enough Nick Diaz is kind of close to being good after all these years but Robbie has somehow elevated his game year after year. I gave him 0% chance against Cowboy and he stood his ground.

u gave him 0% chance against Cowboy? really?

 

[Xaero]

Ronda doesn't spar too. Best WMMA fighter ever.

 

[The ScorpioN]

He was a journeyman until he joined ATT, with staple fighters like Romero, Lombard, Alves, Monson, Tibau, Bigfoot...

 

[MusterX]

LOL that's a savage strike he lands at the end as he shrugs the ref off like a fly.

 

[MusterX]

No known weaknesses ​

​

LMAO, his weakness is....

Spoiler

 

[Credo]

I remember watching his early fights, always thought he was the Mike Tyson of MMA.