Rory was 20 when he fought Condit (former WEC WW champ) and was up 2 rounds on all three scorecards going into the third. Pretty impressive. If he didn't get his nose broken in the first round of the Lawler II fight, then things may've played out very differently as Rory was forced to breathe through his mouth. Rory has also won 4 rounds against Robbie and outstruck him in the last fight.
Wow, just one of the worst, most biased posts I've seen. "If Robbie didn't break Rory's nose in the first round, Rory might have won the fight..." OK, and if the Packers don't score 42 points in the first half, the Bears might win the game, right? It's a fist fight, and Robbie's stated goal in said fight was to keep pounding Rory's nose in until he couldn't take the pain anymore. Well, he needed to do exactly that in the 5th round in order to keep the belt he fought so many years to earn, and that's what he did.
It was an epic fight that will live on as one of the very best we as MMA fans had the privilege to witness, and not only did Rory's skills look better than ever, but he gained a new fan in me by simply displaying that warrior spirit that so few men and women on this Earth posess. Sure, he crumbled to the ground from an accumulation of powerful punches just minutes away from possible UFC gold, but I'd say less than 5% of the UFC WW division would have even made it that far with a nose that had been flattened into a black hole.
Rory is tough as nails and has the true heart of a champion, but Robbie IS the champion, and he showed it by giving Rory an ass whooping for the second time. More so than getting back in title contention, I just hope Rory doesn't get into too many more wars like that, because that was just brutal and Rory has too much heart to know when to throw in the towel.
TL;DR - Much respect to Rory, but please show some for the champ
