Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler 1: Through the Fire

Photo courtesy of @SnackMuay

When thinking about the post-GSP era, Johny Hendricks’ brief position at the top of the division is often skated over. Most of the focus is on Robbie Lawler’s reign of violence, before Tyron Woodley’s last truly great performance ended the fun. But, prior to Lawler’s turn at the top, he and Hendricks put on two of the greatest fights in welterweight history, and two of the greatest fights in MMA history, to boot.

To many fans, Hendricks was the uncrowned champion, coming off his controversial split decision loss to GSP. Lawler, despite his electric run to contention, was a massive underdog, with Hendricks closing around -400. It was seen as merely a formality for Hendricks, as his power, explosiveness, and wrestling were supposedly too much for the resurgent, but known commodity in Lawler. What those two men delivered for us at UFC 171 is the greatest fight in welterweight history. Some may feel it’s Lawler’s fight with Rory MacDonald, as I used to, but I’ve changed my tune.

Hendricks’ performance was, at times, unbelievable. Standing in the pocket, slinging long punch-kick combinations, while disrupting the flow and timing of one of the best boxers in MMA history, was incredible to watch. Prior to this fight, we’d seen improvements, but he was still seen as a brutish, but rudimentary puncher.

Ryan Wagner and I had the pleasure of watching this fight with Steven Wright - Hendricks’ striking coach at the time. He walked us through the fight, the gameplan, and the corner discussions. It was incredibly insightful.

“….the whole fight, we wanted to fight right in front of Robbie, we felt our best chance to have offensive success would be if we played that game, as opposed to playing on the veil, scoring and moving. We felt like we could get caught in between with our legs, if we were trying to go in and out, that was a good chance for Robbie to get into his offense. A lot of what we wanted to do was early investment on the low kicks, challenge the takedowns to start working on that gas tank, because we know Robbie works in explosive spots, so we really played for a lot of it in the fight, and got to those spots early”.

Round 1

From the get go, we saw Hendricks following their gameplan to a tee. Hendricks’ commitment to landing those leg kicks and forcing extended wrestling exchanges was executed nearly perfectly, giving Lawler few opportunities throughout the round to get in his own scoring opportunities.

Despite an early scare which we will take a look at, Hendricks began an assault on Lawler’s legs, one that would not let up throughout the fight. He would land them as Lawler came in and backed out of range, often behind his defensive shell, to set up or close combinations, and to lead into takedown attempts. The versatility Hendricks displayed with his use and implementation of his leg kicks was impressive, and more adept than many top level fighters around today.

His wrestling offense was executed in earnest as well, with nearly two minutes of cage wrestling taking place in round 1 - nearly half of the total time spent wrestling in the entire fight. Hendricks’ threat of the overhand left was established early, and his power had to be respected. We see in these clips how he’s able to establish the overhand left as a legitimate threat, allowing him to convert them into double leg attempts, leading to extended sequences of clinch-work against the cage.

There was a spot of danger for Hendricks in the first round though, one which was identified both before and in the corner after round 1.

Hendricks throws a naked leg kick at Lawler, which is immediately countered with a straight left. He then chases Hendricks to the cage, trying to blast him with left hooks from behind. This is an example of those explosive spots Lawler looks for. They serve a dual purpose:

1) A big moment leaves impressions in the eyes of the judges, often outweighing longer periods of success with less impact. Lawler has won multiple fights off of these big moments, like against Condit or the Hendricks rematch.

2) Potentially discouraging the use of the techniques that were a part of the gameplan. A fighter like Lawler, with his power and intensity, has done this numerous times. Conditioning your opponent to associate a particular entry or strike with danger is an excellent way to shut down the offensive output of your opponent. Unfortunately for Lawler, Hendricks is not so easy to scare. He stayed the course and won the first round.

Round 2

The first round was fought at a simmer. Robbie Lawler is one to bide his time, gather information, and begin to build his offensive responses off the knowledge he acquired earlier. In the beginning of this round, we saw Lawler begin to open up, trying to needle Hendricks with hard jabs and straights in open space, keeping himself away from the cage to prevent further wrestling exchanges. It’s here where we began to see the other aspect of the gameplan Steven Wright was talking about - not playing on the veil, but fighting Lawler right in front of him, overloading his defensive maneuvers with volume, punching in combination and landing kicks as he planted, trying to bob, weave, and roll with Hendricks’ punches.

Lawler pressed the action, pawing with his jab and grabbing at the rear hand to prevent any incoming potential counters as he threw the rear uppercut. The uppercut didn’t land, but it put Hendricks on the backfoot and straightened him up - opening up the right hook to the temple. As Hendricks circled away, Lawler followed, resetting. Before Lawler seemed to be ready, Hendricks launched into a 1-2 that landed clean. Hendricks pumped another jab out, which Lawler caught and counter jabbed in return. Lawler was crouched and shelled up, keeping his eyes on Hendricks to track incoming shots and land counters. Hendricks bypassed all the dangers and defenses of the coiled Lawler by his kicking his leg as Lawler was planted and covering up at mid-range. Hendricks closed the exchange with a three-punch combination, all deflected before they separated.

Hendricks had been working off the jab, as his corner instructed him firmly to do in between rounds, and he would pump it out at every opportunity. He used the jab to get Lawler to start defending and track his movements. Hendricks also used his jab to time his shots and build up to work around Lawler’s guard, he would search for openings as Lawler looked to evade and counter.

Hendricks opened with a right hook this time, catching Lawler - who was anticipating the jab and waiting to parry it. Hendricks followed up with another left straight. Lawler ducked down to avoid it, and Hendricks greeted him with a stepping knee to the head. Lawler blocked the knee, but was met by a short right hook as he stood straight. Hendricks kept firing his jab-straight again, priming Lawler’s defensive reactions. Hendricks threw out another jab and feinted the straight, pushing off of Lawler’s head before landing another hard outside leg kick to close the door on the combination.

Throughout the round, Hendricks continued to build his combinations, adding attacks as time went on. He was able to time Lawler’s movement patterns in reaction to his strikes. But this isn’t the full story. Robbie Lawler likes to gather information, learning the patterns and timing of his opponents, planning ahead to punish with power. With every strike, ever blitz, every combination Hendricks threw, Lawler was building his database to begin his counter assault. Lawler began to pressure Hendricks with his footwork, forcing Hendricks to throw more often and more frantically than he wanted. Lawler was able to begin landing some counters here and there, but Hendricks was able to keep him at bay. However, the very last exchange, right at the bell, foreshadowed the impending dynamic.

Hendricks was full of confidence, and his offense was flowing. 1-2’s, knees up the middle, heavy hooks as Lawler covered up. Everything seemed to be coming together as he wailed on a shelled up Lawler. Lawler’s eyes followed Hendricks all the while, searching for an opening. As Hendricks tried to close out the round with a thudding leg kick, Lawler unleashed a massive left hook from the hip, clocking Hendricks clean. Both walked away from the exchange smiling, but Lawler was just getting started.

Round 3

Hendricks came out hot, slinging long combinations on, through, and around the guard of Lawler. He stayed active defensively as he blocked, parried, rolled, ducked, and weaved to avoid the incoming shots. However, now Lawler began forcing exchanges, leading the dance, making Hendricks react to him and his actions. With more than half of the round remaining, Lawler landed a punch that changed the complexion of the fight.

As he had throughout the entire fight thus far, Hendricks fired off a 1-2. Lawler parried the jab and slipped outside, sending Hendricks’ straight left over his shoulder. Lawler clubbed the left side of Hendricks to keep him in place and unfurled a crushing left hook to the jaw, visibly rocking Hendricks and forcing an unsteady retreat to the fence.

The problem with Hendricks was that, despite his massive improvements on the feet, he utilized rote striking combinations to the point of predictability. This type of approach can work well against someone like Lawler, it’s not a tall order to outpace him on volume. However, it also allowed the brilliance of Lawler’s style to shine through. His increased pressure and striking output was forcing Hendricks to throw more and more, making it easier for Lawler to capitalize on his reads. Additionally, longer exchanges can often benefit the craftier pocket boxer - which was Robbie Lawler.

Lawler and Hendricks locked hands, and Lawler feinted a right hook before coming over the top of Hendricks’ outstretched hand with it. They separated for a moment before extending their hands again. Lawler grabbed at the rear hand with his lead for a moment before coming over the top with another lead right hook.

Hendricks’ head movement had definitely shown improvement, especially when he was still fresh, but now in mid-range and during exchanges, he failed to get his head off the center line, relying heavily on his own output, parries, and blocks to intercept and return fire. Lawler’s constant handfighting made parrying less available for Hendricks, allowing Lawler to land hard in the pocket.

As Steven Wright noted, Lawler was a burst fighter, unable to sustain these symphonies of violence for too long. He needed to fight in spots, unleashing hell on his opponents, either putting them out or cowing them into an inert state, allowing him to recover for his next assault. What made this fight so special was that Johny Hendricks never backed down, he stuck to the gameplan no matter what. He entered the fire with Lawler, and took everything that would come at him and shot back, regardless of what he was being hit with. He knew one of them had the tank to push this pace, it was his win condition and he never lost sight of it.

It’s impossible to discuss this fight without mentioning that Robbie Lawler is an absolute lunatic. In this exchange, Hendricks parried away Lawler’s lead hand and fired a straight left down the middle, landing it clean, and followed up with a right hand and another left. In response, Lawler laughed. He wore a maniacal smile upon his face as he reveled in the chaos, egging Hendricks on, who obliged. The exchange continued and Lawler fired back, both men showed their skill as Hendricks was able to parry and avoid any damaging blows. This was likely the most iconic moment of the fight.

They key takeaways entering round four were that both men were scoring, but Lawler’s moments were the more impactful. The volume vs. damage pendulum had now swung toward Lawler. He continued to build on that success.

Round 4

The general dynamic of the fight persisted, with Lawler firing back in earnest now. Hendricks shot out his jabs to set up his left, kicked Lawler’s legs out from under him, and looked to land his combinations through the guard. Lawler played on the counter, parrying and pawing at the extended hands of Hendricks to blast big single shots around the arms. One adaptation Hendricks made was to close out exchanges and get the last word, trading counters with Lawler in extended sequences. He was insistent on pushing a pace, banking on the idea that Lawler would drop off soon enough. His commitment to the gameplan had not wavered. Steven Wright made sure in the corner to convince Hendricks that his game was working.

This exchange started with a bang, as both fighters landed simultaneously. Lawler cracked Hendricks with a jab as Hendricks began throwing a lead straight left, which also landed flush. Lawler lever punched into a right hook, but it was parried away by Hendricks. Lawler immediately jabbed again, which Hendricks again parried with his rear hand. Lawler drew out the rear hand parry and stuck his jab in Hendricks’ face, slipping off over his right leg to avoid the incoming counter jab, allowing him to land the left over the top. Hendricks ate the shot and attempted to come back with his own left hand, which Lawler slipped.

Hendricks used a throwaway jab to get Lawler to plant his feet, ready to throw a counter left, but instead Hendricks punted the inside leg, stopping Lawler in his tracks. An overhand left partially landed for Lawler and Hendricks scored with another inside leg kick as Lawler was resetting his stance, he attempted to make the most of it and fell forward into an overhand left. Lawler grinned, he knew Hendricks wasn’t in range and leaned back, encouraging Hendricks to step forward, his stance squared and defense compromised. Lawler cracked him with a left hook. He stepped out of range briefly before stepping back in with a jab followed by an overhand left that he converted into a double collar tie, kneeing Hendricks in the head as he ducked down to avoid the left hand on his way out.

This sequence was long and involved, but it showed just how incredible a fight this was. Hendricks was willing to stick to his volume combinations, trusted them to work, and executed key tactics, despite all of the damage he was taking in order to do so. It was one of the most incredible displays of toughness I’ve ever seen. He was clearly losing these exchanges, being outfought and seemingly outgunned, and he refused to back down. That commitment to volume is what won him the fight, in the long run.

At this point in the fight, Lawler began to absolutely stab Hendricks with his jab, busting up his face and scoring points as he speared him repeatedly, following up with huge left straights and crosses, again and again. Among the many unheralded jabs in MMA history, Lawler’s may well stand as one of the best. Because he couldn’t sustain consistent bursts of offense, Lawler would instead continue to use his jab to manipulate rhythm and touch Hendricks over-and-over.

As the round wore on, Lawler piled up damage on Hendricks but…he just wouldn’t go away. Hendricks fired back, landed his own shots, and forced Lawler to continue to work. Hendricks was busted open, his nose was seemingly broken, and he had taken tremendous amounts of punishment, but he needed Lawler to work. At 1:52 in the round, Hendricks ate an absurdly hard uppercut, flush, and his response was to return a damn-near double digit combination back at Lawler. Hendricks made up for any technical deficiencies by cashing in on his physical attributes, namely durability and endurance. A sacrifice of that nature takes grit, and self-belief.

With every shot Lawler landed, with every strike he was forced to defend, every step he had to take forward, and every step he had to retreat, Lawler was being worn down. He did everything he could to make Hendricks go away, to no avail. Lawler still grinned, enjoying the chaos, but each celebration came with the knowledge that he was reaching the bottom of his gas tank.

There was a moment in this round where things visibly changed. Where the round, and the fight, shifted in Hendricks’ favor, without many realizing it, is when Lawler began to give ground. Hendricks sensed it and immediately began to press his advantage.

Notice the lack of return fire from Lawler, backing away to catch a breather and reset. These are noticeable differences in his body language from just one minute prior. There were no free shots for Hendricks in the previous two rounds. This was an indication for Hendricks to press his advantage, and he did.

A familiar takedown entry, no? Hendricks feinted a takedown to gauge the reaction, and then fired an overhand left at Lawler before diving at his hips against the fence. The fight had come full circle, back to the first round. The goal for Hendricks was to wear out Robbie Lawler, removing his ability to explode into offensive opportunities and score his own. This takedown would be a huge boost to Hendricks and his corners’ confidence in their gameplan.

Round 5

The final round began with Hendricks utilizing every tool he had to drain whatever energy Lawler had remaining. Feinting shots, utilizing jabs and leg kicks at range, and an extended clinch exchange to burn out the arms and kill clock. He was doing everything he needed to do in this fight to win. Still dangerous, Lawler looked to put Hendricks down for good.

In a way, the fight ended before the final bell. Lawler knew he was losing the round and needed to both score big.

Lawler laced Hendricks with a huge 1-2, followed by a 1-2-3, in which the straight and right hook land. Hendricks was forced to back up, and Lawler pressed forward. Lawler jabbed at Hendricks’ rear hand to occupy it, and added a throwaway left hook to bring up Hendricks’ right hand. Hendricks exposed his other side while blocking, allowing Lawler to clock him with a massive right hook. Within a moment, Hendricks fired back and started trading strikes with Lawler, although nothing landed. Nonetheless, Lawler backed up, and landed a noticeably less impactful jab on Hendricks, who pressed forward. Hendricks landed the inside leg kick, squaring Lawler up, and followed it with a big left hook, doubling up on it. He followed up with a double jab and left hand. Lawler’s grin turned to a grimace as he backed away again. Lawler threw out a lazy jab, that Hendricks parried and immediately countered with a straight, crushing Lawler, who was trying to throw a left hook off his jab. Hendricks landed another flurry as Lawler, visibly wobbly, backed away, as Hendricks walked him down, ready for more.

That was Lawler’s last gasp. Hendricks would continue to walk Lawler down, battering him with hard punches, brutal leg kicks, and flurrying on the exhausted striker. He finally got Lawler down once more, and rode out the end of the round, on his way to being crowned the undisputed welterweight champion of the world.

This fight is one of my personal favorites, for so many reasons. After Hendricks’ “loss” to GSP, it felt like he was already the title-holder, making his first defense. A fan favorite in Robbie Lawler finally got his due, after so long. A resurgent former prospect finally arrived where he should have been all along, in the title picture. Together, their styles of fighting meshed so perfectly, forming this beautiful tapestry of violence and grit. The adjustments in real-time, the refusal to deviate from the plan, pushing through absurd levels of adversity, pain, and punishment, battling every step and in every phase. It was incredible, it was one of the greatest fights of all time.