Robbie Lawler breaks down his loss to Rafael dos Anjos

Last night, the UFC touched down in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada with UFC on Fox 26. In the card’s main event, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler collided in a perceived welterweight number one contender fight.

Though Lawler and Dos Anjos were quite evenly matched as far as the betting odds were concerned, Dos Anjos ended up outclassing his veteran foe for the duration of the bout, tenderizing his legs with kicks, landing to the body, completing a few takedowns, and at one point, landing an uninterrupted, 23-second, 40-punch combo. All three judges scored it 50-45 for him.

OH! @RdosAnjosMMA unloads, but Lawler survives at #UFCWinnipeg! pic.twitter.com/g8u1uRp0TT

— UFC Canada (@UFC_CA) December 17, 2017

While Dos Anjos now stands out as perhaps the top contender in the UFC welterweight division, Robbie Lawler must now return to the drawing board.

Speaking at the UFC on Fox 26 post fight press conference, the former welterweight champion broke down his loss to Dos Anjos, and explained that, at this point, he’s not thinking too far ahead.

“It doesn’t matter,” Lawler said. “He did a great job out there. It just wasn’t my night. He did a great job.”

“I just wasn’t able to do the kind of things I wanted to do,” He continued. “He took advantage of – he did a great job out there. Landed some good knees. Landed some good punches, couple takedowns.”

“I’m going to go home tomorrow. That’s as far as I’m thinking ahead, I guess.”

With his loss to Rafael Dos Anjos, Robbie Lawler returns to the loss column after a close win over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone. In his next most recent fight, he was knocked out by Tyron Woodley, surrendering the UFC welterweight title in the process.

Who do you want to see Robbie Lawler fight next? Jorge Masvidal? Mike Perry? Somebody else? Join the conversation in the comments section!

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 16/12/2017.