But his matchup with Robbie Lawler was going to be his second chance at the UFC’s 170-pound belt in a sport in which three shots at the same belt are rare.
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UFC 195, which took place on Saturday night in Las Vegas, featured a number of controversial decisions.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship opened 2016 with an incredible explosion with Filipino-American fighter Robbie Lawler forced throw everything to Carlos Condit in 5 rounds to defend his UFC Welterweight Championship via split decision.
Lawler (27-10, 1 NC) was magnanimous in victory. Condit stuck his gameplan of throwing and landing various strikes from all angles, but Lawler poured all of his power into every punch he had left as the fight’s time expired. “I think I show my toughness when the cameras are on it and in front of the big lights and all the fans”. When it finally rang, the champion and challenger stood side-by-side with their arms leaned up on the cage, wearing exhaustion and respect on their bruised, bloodied faces. “There were two winners tonight”, he said afterward.
“Carlos Condit can fight someone in the meantime, come back up, he will always be a top welterweight in the world”.
The third judge, Tony Weeks, gave Lawler rounds two and five and had it 48-47 for Condit.
Suffice to say, when a heavyweight fighter screams at you, sometimes it has the desired effect. I wasn’t hurt neurologically, but I was roughed up a little bit. Carlos was everything they said he was, and I had to dig deep.
In terms of experience, Lawler is as game and weathered as they game.
In a brilliant effort that lived up to its promise, Lawler prevailed and proved once again why he is one of the toughest and most resilient champions in the UFC. “Lawler was winning that round early and then kind of shut down and didn’t do much the rest of the third round”, White said….
For now both Woodley and Condit will have to wait considering Lawler is the champion and his health will ultimately determine the timing for any potential title fights.
And Lawler did just that. Hats off to him.
Arlovski has been undefeated since returning to the UFC in mid-2014, most notably defeating Travis Browne at UFC 187. He barely won a decision over Johny Hendricks and last July fought in the Fight of the Year, a fifth round knockout of Rory MacDonald in a fight he almost lost on multiple occasions.
Robbie Lawler was going to have a tough time putting together a fight as epic as his first title defense at UFC 189, but that’s exactly what he did Saturday night. He didn’t get that finish, but he did win the round after destroying Condit with several huge punches. He is now 7-4 in the UFC, and holds notable victories against former title contenders Nick Diaz and Thiago Alves.
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Before the main event, Miocic likely earned a shot at the UFC heavyweight belt with an opening-minute victory.
