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.
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.