On this day 7 years ago, Robbie Lawler endured a five-round war against Carlos Condit
It has already been seven years since Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit went to war inside the octagon. Today marks another anniversary of their epic UFC 195 battle at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas when Lawler retained his UFC welterweight championship.
'Ruthless' earned a split-decision victory against 'The Natural Born Killer' after a very entertaining five-round back-and-forth clash. There's still debate among fans as to whether Condit should have been awarded the decision and the welterweight championship.
#OnThisDay in 2016, @Ruthless_RL & @CarlosCondit left it all in the Octagon 💥 https://t.co/f9400Tv7X9
Lawler's ascent to becoming the UFC welterweight champion was quite entertaining. He finally achieved his goal when he defeated Johny Hendricks via split decision in their rematch at UFC 181. Despite his short title reign, it was definitely memorable as his title defences [against Condit and Rory MacDonald] were Fight of Night awardees.
'Ruthless' came off his fifth-round TKO win against Rory MacDonald at UFC 189, which is arguably one of the greatest fights in UFC history. Following that performance was yet another war against Condit only 6 months later.
The welterweight champion complimented 'The Natural Born Killer's durability during the post-fight press conference, saying:
"Carlos is so tough. I feel like I hit him with some big shots and he kept coming, throwing knees. I mean, he's tough. It's just a testament to the kind of fighter he is. He showcased who he is and he's everything everybody said he was." [0:23 - 0:37]
Based on what transpired in the fight, it was surprising that the promotion didn't book an immediate rematch as they instead went in another direction with both fighters.
Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit weren't the same after their war at UFC 195
Relive the EPIC battle between @Ruthless_RL and @CarlosCondi from #UFC195 here: bit.ly/1mrXQZL https://t.co/x5Gb5b9yPg
Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit were never the same after UFC 195 and experienced a string of losses.
'Ruthless' lost his welterweight championship to Tyron Woodley via first-round knockout at UFC 201. Despite bouncing back from the loss by defeating Donald Cerrone via unanimous decision at UFC 214, he went on to lose four straight before snapping the losing skid by defeating a diminished Nick Diaz at UFC 266.
Meanwhile, 'The Natural Born Killer' also lost his next four fights before defeating Court McGee via unanimous decision at UFC on ESPN 16 in 2020. He extended his winning streak with a unanimous decision win against Matt Brown but lost a decision to Max Griffin at UFC 264 in what ended up being his retirement fight.