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

#3 Winning the title in his rematch with Johny Hendricks

Lawler finally won the Welterweight title in 2014 by beating Johny Hendricks

Lawler had managed to secure an unlikely UFC Welterweight title shot by defeating Rory MacDonald in November of 2013, but when he came up against top contender Johny Hendricks in the fight for the title vacated by Georges St-Pierre, he was a little short. Lawler and Hendricks put on a great fight with some tremendous exchanges, but in the end, Hendricks’ superior wrestling was enough to edge him the decision.

After the fight was over, Hendricks took time off to heal an injured biceps, but Lawler refused to rest on his laurels. Two months later he was back, TKOing Jake Ellenberger, and two months after that he stopped the red-hot run of Matt Brown in another hellacious brawl. The UFC had no choice but to book a Lawler/Hendricks rematch, and ‘The Ruthless One’ seemed determined to change the outcome.

This time Lawler wasted no time, coming out in the first round like a house on fire. He took the fight to Hendricks, hammering him with combinations and hard knees to the body from the clinch. It was a wonder Hendricks survived the assault, but he did, and in fact, won the next two rounds. For a moment at least, it looked like Lawler had exhausted himself in the opener.

That wasn’t the case though; instead, the challenger had seemingly lulled Hendricks into a false sense of security. Lawler became the aggressor again in the championship rounds and clearly took the 4th with his combinations and forward movement, and when Hendricks took him down in the fifth, he simply wasn’t willing to allow himself to lose the fight as he’d done 9 months prior.

This time Lawler began to punish the body of Hendricks with some brutal elbows, and with less than a minute remaining, he exploded to his feet and began to destroy the champion with vicious combinations, putting him on the run. When the buzzer sounded to end the fight, Lawler continued to stalk his prey, seemingly not ready to stop.

It was just the exclamation point needed, and minutes later, Lawler was awarded the UFC Welterweight title by split decision. Some fans actually scored the fight for Hendricks, but it was impossible not to be happy for Lawler; few fighters had reached the top of the UFC mountain by following a tougher path.