"Very bloody, violent fight" - Former UFC champion recounts legendary Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald rematch
A former UFC champion recently recounted the legendary welterweight title fight between Robbie Lawler and Rory MacDonald, which is regarded by many as the greatest fight in the promotion's history.
The welterweight title bout served as the co-main event of UFC 189 in 2015 and saw Lawler earn a fifth round TKO win to successfully retain his title and improve to 2-0 against the Canadian. The bout was back-and-forth and put the resilience and will to win of both fighters on full display.
During a recent episode of Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson's Jaxxon Podcast, former UFC champions Luke Rockhold and TJ Dillashaw appeared to break down and analyze the top-10 fights in the promotion's history. Dillashaw recounted what made the welterweight title fight so memorable and worthy of its number-one ranking. He said:
"I mean, if you're into violence, that's for sure [one of the greatest fights of all time], right? It was a very bloody, violent fight, very memorable. I mean, if you remember the post-fight speech by [Robbie] Lawler and his lip is just split in half, he's screaming, it was hard to watch the TV cause his lip was just falling off his face...This is the heyday of [Rory] MacDonald, when he was just a killer as well, on top of his game, it was a sick fight."
Lawler vs. MacDonald 2 was definitely an all-time classic and still talked about in high regard nearly a decade later. It was inducted into the Fight wing of the UFC Hall of Fame last year.
Which fight does former UFC champion TJ Dillashaw believe to be the greatest fight he's seen?
TJ Dillashaw has witnessed many fights during his career and recently revealed which fight he believes to be the greatest he has seen.
During the aforementioned appearance, the former bantamweight champion recounted being in the arena when Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua and Dan Henderson competed in their legendary bout at UFC 139.
Dillashaw mentioned that it was an entertaining bout and described what the atmosphere was like in the arena. He said:
"You weren't in your seat at all the entire fight, it was crazy, dude. It was a sick fight, back-and-forth, both getting their a**es whipped, so close to being stopped so many times on both sides of it. In my mind, the best fight I've ever witnessed."