Five talking points from UFC 195 when Robbie Lawler defeated Carlos Condit
Monday 4 January 2016 10:54, UK
Robbie Lawler retained his welterweight championship against Carlos Condit at UFC 195 in Las Vegas, but what did we learn from the event?
Lawler received the judges' verdict in a split decision win to keep his belt in a heartbreaking moment for Condit - meanwhile, a potential future foe for Conor McGregor had a night to forget.
Five talking points from UFC 195...
Did the right man win?
MMA uses the identical 10-9 scoring system as boxing which leads to obvious difficulties when trying to judge the effectiveness of, for example, a punch against a kick. The rules, which give the winner of a round 10 points to the loser's nine except in the rare case of a 10-8, cause particular trouble when giving the same credit to the winning a back-and-forth period as a dominant one.
Official statistics had Condit landing 198 total strikes to Lawler's 78 but the winner can't be solely judged on the frequency of their shots. Condit's 198 were actually just 39 percent of his attempts while Lawler landed 44 percent. Throughout the fight, Condit was always busier by mixing his punches with kicks, elbows and knees while Lawler favoured using mainly his fists - again, this can't be held against the champion under the 10-9 scoring system.
Condit's knockdown in the first round and Lawler's in the third presumably were enough to win them those respective stanzas. The desperate and wild brawl that erupted in the fifth is likely to have been edged by the defending champion, leaving just two more rounds to decide. The judges gave two out of three 48-47 scorecards in favour of Lawler and, based on how the rules allow them to mitigate, a split decision win for either fighter could have been disputed.
Is Lawler one of the top UFC champions?
Esteemed and great champions such as Ronda Rousey, Jose Aldo and Chris Weidman have lost their world championships in recent months proving the life of a UFC title-holder is full of lurking dangers right around the corner. Lawler won the welterweight title in December 2014 yet only two of his nine peers have held a belt for longer.
Of those, Demetrious Johnson is regarded as a pound-for-pound elite fighter but TJ Dillashaw's subsequent title defences are not comparable to Lawler's. In 13 months the Californian has fought an impressive three times and defeated Johny Hendricks, Rory MacDonald and Condit in a hat-trick of gruelling, energy-sapping barnburners.
Now aged 33, perhaps Lawler doesn't receive the credit he is due because of his career resurgence. He was initially released from the UFC in 2004 after a wretched run but returned as a transformed fighter two years ago, beating the elite of the 170 pounds division. His 27-10-1 record means there is plenty of evidence of Lawler's shortcomings but it requires a look back into history to witness them.
What now for Condit?
"I have to evaluate, but there's a possibility it might be my last one," the defeated Condit stated afterwards. He remains a viable and threatening contender at welterweight but having now come up short twice in UFC championship fights.
There was no shame in his initial defeat to all-time great Georges St-Pierre three years ago and it is reasonable to believe he should have left the cage with Lawler as a champion. But, aged 33 and with a host of younger contenders on the rise, he is unlikely to get a third crack at the belt anytime soon.
With a record of 39 MMA fights (30 wins) under his belt plus a handful of kickboxing bouts, the Albuquerque fighter's body might be feeling older than its true age. It remains to be seen whether Condit, ranked at No 4 before the weekend, opts to hang up his gloves.
Duffy no closer to McGregor rematch
Ireland's Joseph Duffy remains the last man to defeat Conor McGregor after a fight five years ago on the regional circuit that has largely come to light after the latter's UFC success. The prospect of a high-profile rematch may have been irrevocably shattered after Duffy was shown up by Dustin Poirier at the weekend.
Donegal lightweight Duffy was supposed to headline an October card in his homeland against Poirier, a veteran who McGregor knocked out en route to claiming the featherweight championship. A concussion to Duffy meant their fight was delayed and the subsequent result means his dream rematch with McGregor might never happen.
Poirier was able to take Duffy to the ground at will and hold him in position, convincingly winning the second and third rounds. It's back to the drawing board for Canada-based Duffy if Ireland are to find a second star UFC attraction.
Miocic next in line at heavyweight
In three years only four men have contested UFC heavyweight championship fights - Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos slugged out a trilogy, Antonio Silva was swiftly sent packing, and Fabricio Werdum claimed the title last summer.
Stipe Miocic might be the fresh, young blood that the division desperately needs. The Ohio fighter is 33 but a relative newcomer with just 16 fights to his name, but has quickly proved to be a wreckling ball in the land of giants. That run continued for the No 3 ranked big man at UFC 195 when he needed 54 seconds to knock out No 2 Andrei Arlovski, the former champion. Miocic is now almost certainly next in line to the crown after Werdum rematches Velasquez.
