Robbie Lawler Completes Improbable Career Comeback with UFC Title Win

It was a night when a special announcement made after the first pay-per-view bout threatened to overshadow one of the UFC's best cards of the year.

The signing of former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Phil "CM Punk" Brooks to the UFC roster sent shockwaves through the mixed martial arts world. But it was the improbable career comeback of Robbie Lawler—once considered one of the best prospects the sport had ever seen—that will be the true enduring story of UFC 181.

Lawler's capture of the UFC welterweight championship with a split-decision win over Johny Hendricks in the main event was a narrow one along the thinnest of edges. I scored the fight for Hendricks, but the moments waiting for the decision to be announced in the arena were filled with the kind of knowledge that goes a little something like this: That was a close fight. I think Hendricks won. But I also think have this feeling that Lawler is going to get the nod.And he did. Though judge Glenn Trowbridge's 49-46 scorecard for Lawler bordered on egregious, it is hard to take issue with the decision as a whole. You cannot say Lawler did not come to fight; he vaulted out of his corner as if shot out of a cannon and attacked from the opening bell.

After that initial explosion, he disappeared for most of the middle rounds. It appeared he'd suffered some kind of injury, or an adrenaline dump; there was no way to explain his lack of offense.

But Hendricks did not capitalize. He landed plenty of strikes, but spent more time than he should've just pressing Lawler against the Octagon wall. And that is where Lawler scored points; Hendricks' inactivity worked against him. It worked for Georges St-Pierre for years, but Hendricks is not afforded the same graces.

Lawler used those moments of downtime to land strikes of his own. They were moments that typically are not favored highly by mixed martial arts judges; on this occasion, however, Lawler came out on the winning side. And when Matt Hughes strapped the welterweight championship around Lawler's waist, it truly was the completion of an absolutely remarkable career comeback.

Source http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2291920-robbie-lawler-completes-improbable-career-comeback-with-ufc-title-win