Robbie Lawler: Hard Work Is The Key To Success In The UFC
UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler became somewhat of a Cinderella story when he beat Johny Hendricks at UFC 181. The 36-fight MMA veteran has come along leaps and bounds since his reckless early days, and is by far a much more complete fighter now.
What’s next is a UFC 189 showdown with former opponent Rory MacDonald, who got shifted from UFC 186 after Hector Lombard got caught juicing. Speaking with MMAJunkie.com, “Ruthless” talked about his career turn around and how he stays healthy:
“It just comes down to everyone is different, but take care of your body. Be smart out there. You can’t just go hard every day. You have to let your body rest and listen to your coaches. Hopefully you have good coaches around you, good people around you. Just work hard. Learn as much as possible, and grind away.”
Lawler’s comments come at a time when camps like AKA (American Kickboxing Academy) are under the spotlight for their ‘stone age’ training methods. Cain Velasquez and Khabib Nurmagomedov have fallen out of multiple fights due to injuries in recent times, and the welterweight kingpin continued:
“It just comes down to I’ve had a lot of really good people around me – people who didn’t give up on me,” said Lawler, an early member of Team Miletich who now works with American Top Team. “I never gave up on myself, but I had a lot of people who helped me along the way – a lot of coaches, a lot of training partners – and I’m here today because of those guys putting a lot of hard work and dedication into me. I just kept at it, and it worked out.”
The Robbie Lawler of old seems to have gone, and what’s left is a level headed athlete who knows how to get the most from his training. We’ll see if his fairy tale story can continue after UFC 189 in July, but Tyron Woodley might be next if he does beat ‘Ares”.
Hard work and dedication are what’s required in this tough sport, and ‘Ruthless’ seems to have it by the bucket load. Will he still be champion come this summer, or will his younger foe beat him now the belt is on the line?
