Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef |
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FastKnockout
Heavyweight Champ
Career record: 525-315
Season: 16-8 (#1027)
Location: Mississippi
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I'm a huge "Ruthless" fan, and one of things I see pretty often when non-fans talk about him is his fight with Melvin Manhoef, where Manhoef was pretty much picking apart Lawler with leg kicks until Lawler landed a nasty over hand straight to Manhoef's chin. Well, I was reading an article on BloodyElbow about Lawler earlier where they went through his history with all the major orginizations, and when they arrived at his fight with Manhoef they acted as if they thought the fight was negative in Lawler's history even though he managed to catch a highlight reel knockout. " Picked apart by Melvin Manhoef before landing a hail mary punch" is what they said, and some of the readers in the comments mentioned they thought it was a "lucky punch" and they would've liked to see Lawler lose because most of Lawler's wins were lucky punches on better fighters. I'm wondering what some of you guys think about Robbie Lawler and his fight with Manhoef in specific.
Here's the fight:
Youtube Video
The way I see it, there is no such thing as a "lucky punch" in MMA. If a punch lands on the chin, then that means the guy who was knocked out left his guard open long enough for his opponent to strike, and that's what Lawler did to Manhoef. Lawler's power isn't something to sleep on, and it seemed as though Manhoef was too comfortable after landing so many leg kicks and he fell asleep on Lawler while looking for his own knockout. One of Lawler's two main weaknesses has always been the inability to check leg kicks, and Manhoef used that to his advantage to throw Lawler off and keep him off offense. I don't think it's right to take away from Lawler's win just because he was losing up to that point.
Here's the BloodyElbow article:
Article
Here's why I will always be a Robbie Lawler fan:
LINK
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Post #1 7/27/11 3:43:14PM
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Chael_Sonnen
Heavyweight Champ
Career record: 521-343
Season: 17-7 (#819)
Location: Wand SUCKS
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Great KO by Robbie.....not a lucky punch by any stretch of the means....Melvin just has an unlucky chin.
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Post #2 7/27/11 4:46:41PM
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SURPRISE VAN CANDY!
Career record: 940-485
Season: 17-7 (#624)
Location: Seattle, WA
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Robbie intentionally becomes a punching bag in a lot of his fights but he keeps tight defense the whole time, good head movement, chin tucked, and picks the best spot to throw back and it usually takes just one punch.
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If I was 50 years younger I'd kick your ass!
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Post #3 7/28/11 2:06:01AM
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The Original Playground Bully
Career record: 976-548
Season: 20-4 (#104)
Location: Minnesota
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I was just showing this fight to a noob last night. He was blown away. Each time I see that fight I just wish we could have seen Robbie get Ko'd by his own knee to the head... Those leg kicks were sending his knee up sooo damn high I would have loved to see him eat his own knee for entertainment purposes. Great KO though, and out of nowhere too.
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And as El Guapo always says- "God speed, and party on. Whoap!"
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Post #4 7/28/11 3:25:39AM
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ghandikush
MMA Sensei
Career record: 84-51
Season: 0-0 (#-)
Location:
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He knew he couldnt trade with Manhoef. There was no way. I had Manhoef picked to win by decimation exactly how it was playing out. Lawler didnt land anything lucky though, just like Hughes he knows how to strategize to make up for his inabilities.
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Post #5 7/28/11 8:33:14AM
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Adrenaline
Belt Contender
Career record: 0-0
Season: 0-0 (#-)
Location: United States of America
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Lawler is the man, I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for him. Robbies M.O. has always been that he comes in to take your head off, you don't really have to guess what his plan is (Same could be said about Melvin). So when he takes a guy out like he did in Manhoef how do you call it lucky? Its what Robbie does.
I watched this fight live (on tv) and went nuts when he came back from that beating to put Manhoef asleep.
Lawler 
Last edited 7/30/11 3:39AM by Adrenaline
Edit note/reason: n/a
2 total post edits
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Post #6 7/30/11 3:33:56AM
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40ouncetpkid
Standup Guy
Career record: 142-96
Season: 0-0 (#-)
Location: Trailer Park
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Definitely isn't luck when Manhoef gets notoriously wild with a notoriously shakey chin and gets caught by Robbie Lawler who is one of the heaviest punchers in the middleweight division.
One a side note, I really am pulling for Robbie tonight, I would seriously cream myself if a Robbie Lawler vs Chris Leban fight ever happened...
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Post #7 7/30/11 4:29:07PM
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pmoney
Heavyweight Champ
Career record: 524-304
Season: 19-5 (#343)
Location: PD, CA, USA
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I will never, ever forget that KO. One of the most vicious KO's ever in the sport. That diving left Lawler hit him with on the way down was evil.
I like Lawler as a fighter. He always comes to brawl. Do I think he's gotten some lucky punches on fighters? Eh. I don't know if I'd say that. Robbie is a pro, he knows damn well what he's doing.
If you watch the replay of him KO'in Manhoef, you can see Lawler is practically staring at the mat when he hucks that right at Melvin's face. I would say that his ability to connect in that situation isn't from luck, but several factors. Just because Lawler was looking more at the ground and in defensive posture, he could still gauge where Manhoef is.
And Manhoef was obviously swinging wild at Lawler, as he had been picking him apart and looking for the KO. I believe Lawler showed good timing, and good fight IQ, just by being able to pull that off. That is why he is a professional fighter. Most people would have just gotten KO'ed by Manhoef and been done with it. And although it's not really a good strategy to catch your opponent slipping while they are somewhat recklessly trying to finish you, Robbie was at least able to make the comeback happen.
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Post #8 7/31/11 12:54:13PM
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armbar66j7
Standup Guy
Career record: 166-102
Season: 9-2 (#1732)
Location: Maryland
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beautiful, you can say manhoef was "destroying" lawler but at the end of the day, lawler did take any reall damage other than the kicks. and geuss what? thats what happens when you get cocky and drop your hands in front of robbie fuckin lawler
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Post #9 10/21/11 2:13:51AM
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armbar66j7
Standup Guy
Career record: 166-102
Season: 9-2 (#1732)
Location: Maryland
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Posted by pmoney
I will never, ever forget that KO. One of the most vicious KO's ever in the sport. That diving left Lawler hit him with on the way down was evil.
I like Lawler as a fighter. He always comes to brawl. Do I think he's gotten some lucky punches on fighters? Eh. I don't know if I'd say that. Robbie is a pro, he knows damn well what he's doing.
If you watch the replay of him KO'in Manhoef, you can see Lawler is practically staring at the mat when he hucks that right at Melvin's face. I would say that his ability to connect in that situation isn't from luck, but several factors. Just because Lawler was looking more at the ground and in defensive posture, he could still gauge where Manhoef is.
And Manhoef was obviously swinging wild at Lawler, as he had been picking him apart and looking for the KO. I believe Lawler showed good timing, and good fight IQ, just by being able to pull that off. That is why he is a professional fighter. Most people would have just gotten KO'ed by Manhoef and been done with it. And although it's not really a good strategy to catch your opponent slipping while they are somewhat recklessly trying to finish you, Robbie was at least able to make the comeback happen.
in the replay you can see melvin drop his hands for like 1 second and in that same fluid motion robbie came down with the knock out punch, he times that, he was waitin for his hand to drop, robbie threw maybe 6 punches that whole fight, 3 of em were during the knockout, he had a gameplan, he weathered the storm, and took his ass out
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Post #10 10/21/11 2:16:38AM
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REBEL WITH A CAUSE
Career record: 820-501
Season: 20-4 (#127)
Location: Milwaukie, Oregon
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Robbie was definetly getting worked by those kicks to the leg but he has one punch ko power and he caught Manhoef perfect. Not a lucky punch IMO
I've always like Lawler. I'm impressed by his patience, something he didn't have when he was in the UFC. I'm affraid he gets too passive at times now tho, content to just counter punch. But when he decides to be on the offensive he's extremely dangerous, as is evident with his knockout of Manhoef. I would love to see him back in the UFC.
Last edited 10/21/11 3:01AM by prophecy033
Edit note/reason: n/a
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Post #11 10/21/11 3:01:17AM
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armbar66j7
Standup Guy
Career record: 166-102
Season: 9-2 (#1732)
Location: Maryland
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Posted by prophecy033
Robbie was definetly getting worked by those kicks to the leg but he has one punch ko power and he caught Manhoef perfect. Not a lucky punch IMO
I've always like Lawler. I'm impressed by his patience, something he didn't have when he was in the UFC. I'm affraid he gets too passive at times now tho, content to just counter punch. But when he decides to be on the offensive he's extremely dangerous, as is evident with his knockout of Manhoef. I would love to see him back in the UFC.
bring him back and have him fight brian stann...fireworks, cuz you know their both gonna stand and trade
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Post #12 10/21/11 4:36:28PM
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