UFC on ESPN: Covington vs. Lawler - 5 most 'Ruthless' moments of Robbie Lawler

#4 Returning to the UFC by smashing Josh Koscheck

Lawler put a beating on highly-ranked contender Josh Koscheck in his UFC return

After nearly a decade away from the UFC, competing in promotions such as Elite XC and the IFL, Lawler made his return to the Octagon in February 2013 – one of many fighters to be brought to the promotion following the folding of StrikeForce.

Despite the nostalgia kick, few fans expected him to pull up many trees; he’d won just 1 of 4 fights since the start of 2011 and he was faced with a dangerous opponent in former Welterweight title challenger Josh Koscheck. But this was a different Robbie Lawler, more honed and more focused than the youngster UFC fans had been introduced to in 2002.

Koscheck attempted to impose his powerful wrestling game on Lawler, who had struggled against stifling grapplers like Babalu Sobral and Tim Kennedy in StrikeForce, but surprisingly enough despite giving up some early takedowns, Lawler stayed calm. Eventually, he reversed Koscheck, pinning him into the fence on all fours, and from there, Lawler unleashed hell.

A hard left hand stunned Koscheck, and Lawler immediately – ‘Ruthlessly’ – began to nail the wrestler with brutal right hands, literally bouncing his head off the ground and into the fence. Despite Koscheck still being conscious, referee Herb Dean was quickly forced to intervene before more damage was done.

Lawler was back in the UFC in the most violent way possible, but even then, few people could’ve expected how good a run he’d go on to have.