Footage of Robbie Lawler happily chatting with his coaching team proves he loved every minute of his famous war with Rory MacDonald.
The welterweight duo first fought in 2013 during their days as contenders in a division dominated by Georges St-Pierre who is arguably the greatest MMA fighter of all time.
However, Lawler and MacDonald will always be remembered for their epic rematch which took place after ‘Ruthless’ outpointed Johny Hendricks to win the UFC welterweight title when GSP temporarily retired.
On July 11, 2015, they clashed once again, this time at UFC 189 – a card topped by Conor McGregor who beat Chad Mendes inside two rounds to claim his first UFC belt.
‘Notorious’ achieved his UFC title dream on a bloody Octagon canvas which served as a reminder of what had happened in the co-main event of the evening.
Lawler vs MacDonald 2 started off slowly before bursting into life in the second round when the champion wobbled his opponent with a left hand.
‘The Red King’ got his own back in the following frame when he cracked Lawler, who barely survived the round, with a massive head kick and a series of follow-up shots.
By the fourth frame, both men were covered in blood and just fighting on instinct before the round ended and they stood across from each other in one of the most iconic moments in UFC history.
Lawler, who was missing a chunk of his lip, spat blood on the ground and stared down MacDonald after 20 minutes of brutal action.
In the end, they had to be separated and dragged back to their respective corners where the fight was seemingly decided.
MacDonald was subdued as his trainers told him all he has to do is win one more round to become the UFC welterweight champion.
Meanwhile, Lawler was upbeat and relishing being in the toughest fight of his life – he answered, ‘I feel f***ing great,” when his corner team asked how he’s coping with the punishment he’s taking.
Ultimately, MacDonald fell to the floor and suffered a TKO defeat in the fifth round after taking one too many shots to his broken nose during 2015’s Fight of the Year.
Lawler has lost six of his nine fights since outlasting MacDonald who has had similar struggles in Bellator and PFL after going to war with the MMA fan favourite eight years ago.
At UFC 290 this weekend, the 41-year-old will fight Niko Price before calling time on his Hall of Fame career that has spanned 22 years and 46 fights.
Lawler’s retirement decision comes less than a year after MacDonald decided to walk away from fighting following consecutive defeats to Dilano Taylor and Sadibou Sy.
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