Sherdog’s Top 10: Most Durable Fighters

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5. Robbie Lawler

While Lawler’s shocking rise to the peak of the welterweight division can be traced to his skill improvement, his move to American Top Team, dropping back to 170 pounds or even fixing his environmental asthma, the underlying thing that enabled this late-career surge is incredible durability. In 36 professional fights, the Iowa native has been knocked out only once, by Nick Diaz, early in his UFC career.

One knockout loss in 36 fights would be impressive by any standard, but the fact that Lawler has hung in with some of the most powerful strikers in the history of the sport and come out nearly unscathed elevates it to a mind-blowing accomplishment. Melvin Manhoef brutalized Lawler’s legs for the better part of a round, and the Iowan put him to sleep with a single punch. Lawler spent more than 20 minutes in the cage with Scott Smith, who was once counted among the more devastating punchers in the sport, and came through just fine.

Lawler’s most stunning accomplishments in terms of durability, however, have all come in the last year. Lawler went 25 minutes with Johny Hendricks in March in a fight contested almost entirely in the pocket and took the former champion’s best shots. He knocked out Jake Ellenberger, a devastating puncher in his own right, in May. Lawler next took on Matt Brown in a “Fight of the Year” contender in July and absorbed another 45 shots to the head without looking the worse for wear. Finally, he went toe-to-toe with Hendricks again, and this time came out on top after another 25 minutes of back-and-forth action.

The sheer toughness necessary to compete at this high a level for this long a time -- without ever showing any real sign of cracking -- is incredible. Here is to hoping that Lawler can keep it up.

Number 4 » He wanted fights on the ground, but he lacked the kind of high-level wrestling game that would have allowed him to consistently get opponents to the mat. His solution was to pull guard and then eat as many shots as he had to before locking up a submission from his back or working a sweep so that he ended up on top. It was essentially a given that his opponents would hit him more than he hit them.