Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Welterweights

8. Robbie Lawler

I personally didn't have Lawler on my Top 10, and put him in a similar category to Michael Bisping: a very good fighter with a straightforward style who sustained a number of losses but never gave up hope, and found an opportunity to become champion well into his 30s, when even many of his own fans had given up on that dream. Lawler has some excellent victories, knocking out Josh Koscheck in the first round, two wins against Rory MacDonald, including one by TKO, in a couple of the greatest fights ever, a 22-second flying knee against Joey Villasenor, brutal knockouts of Frank Trigg, Murilo Rua and Scott Smith, a 50-second knockout of Matt Lindland, and victories over Matt Brown and Donald Cerrone in their relative primes.

Lawler also suffered a bunch of losses, some in his relative prime, against a caliber of fighters that literally no one else on this list has lost to: Jason Miller, Tim Kennedy, Lorenz Larkin, Evan Tanner, and even an injury loss to Pete Spratt of all people. Yes, some of these were at middleweight, but Lawler wasn't noticeably smaller in any of these encounters. It should also be noted that Lawler's win over Johny Hendricks to obtain the belt and his title defense against Carlos Condit, both of them split decisions, are widely considered unjust, with most people having Hendricks and Condit each winning 48-47. Lawler was blasted with a right cross by Tyron Woodley in 22 seconds in 2016, and despite being only 34 years old, years of countless wars had taken their toll, and he has struggled to win since. Yet he was certainly one of the most feared strikers in any division ever in his prime, and his story of coming back from early disappointment in the UFC to become welterweight champion is one of the most inspirational in the sport.

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