Robbie Lawler reflects on brutal fight of the year with Rory MacDonald

It was a bloody and grueling war that UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler and top contender Rory MacDoanld put on at UFC 189 that many fans and analysts voted on for ‘Fight of the Year.’ The champion reflected on the fight, and what was going through his head as he looks to defend his belt once again against Carlos Condit at UFC 195 on Jan 2.

Lawler appeared before the media ahead of UFC 195 saying that he felt great despite his bloodied face (transcribed by MMA Fighting):

“It was not tough on me physically. It was tough on me visually,” Lawler joked during a recent UFC 195 media day appearance. “Like, when you looked at me, I looked terrible, right? But I felt great! I’m like, man, I feel great, and then I looked in the mirror and I was like, whooooaaaa. So it wasn’t like a physical thing. It was more of a, your face looks terrible, because of cuts and he caught me with two nice elbows and some jabs to my right eye.”

Despite feeling like he was up on the judge’s scorecards, Lawler said his coaches did not want it to go to a decision.

“My coach said, ‘hey, don’t run out of time,'” Lawler said, laughing. “But I was thinking, I’m winning this fight! Because I felt like I was landing all the big shots. Obviously he had the nice head kick, cut me with some elbows, but I felt like as far as the hard punches, sharp punches, I was doing a lot. Either way, I’m going out there to try and knock somebody out, and I felt great. My coaches told me, ‘hey, don’t let time run out,’ so I didn’t let time run out.”

Lawler related his finish of MacDonald to scoring the winning points in the last seconds of a big game.

“I just feel like that was my fourth-quarter, game is on the line, ball is in the [air], five, four, three, two, one, game-winner,” Lawler said. “That was my moment. I feel like my whole life, I’ve been doing those things. Counting down. That was the moment.

“It’s awesome that the fans loved it, but I think what I look at when I see that, I’m like, the world got to see who I was,” Lawler finished. “I’m not just a guy who can knock people out. I’m tactical, and I have a lot of heart — something that you don’t see when you watch a lot of fights. You’re like, man, he was real technical, he has power. But then you see that and you’re like… whoa. It was just nice to show the world who I am inside as a fighter.”