After watching another great performance by Robbie Lawler, I feel better and better regarding Rory and T-Wood. Without diving into MMA math, I can't see anything that T-Wood does better than Robbie... other than maybe his take down frequency. However, Robbie does not need to take people down that much... they fall by themselves one way or another. Rory was actually turning the tables against Lawler after getting smoked a few times. Robbie is right there in your face, very relax and comes at you with fists and knees... whereas T-Wood likes to keep some distance and then plunge forward. Given that Rory's reflexes are pretty good even with a guy like Robbie standing in his face, I think he will find a way to make T-Wood pay whenever he plunges forward from a distance. Knee in the face, uppercut? Rory has no problem to kick upstairs. As for the takedowns, Rory has some good training partners in that area. As for submission defense, if Demian Maia was not able to submit Rory, I can't see T-Wood doing it either. In any case, T-Wood is a very dangerous fighter, a little more Ellenberger than Lawler in my opinion in terms of versatilities. However, Rory can't deliver another sleeper if he wants a chance for the belt. I am sure that Dana wants another Canadian champ at some point as Canada is a big market but with some high-action guys like Lombard and Mike Brown in the wings a jab festival won't cut it.
Both Twood and rory are still improving a ton each fight. I think its a tough fight to pick. I think twood hits harder and is faster than lawler. I think rory keeps getting sharper and smarter If i had to pick right now i'd say rory but im not confident at all and assume he should be the dog in vegas
Meh. Tyron is more like Johny Hendricks than Lawler, and Rory is like a much worse GSP. I see it going much more like GSP/Hendricks than Lawler/Rory. Styles make fights.
