After UFC Newark, Robbie Lawler isn’t about to comment on fighters “crossing the line,” but he does feel the UFC likes to promote a certain sort of fight.
Newark, NJ — Robbie Lawler has never been one to talk trash, badmouth other fighters, or throw barbs at his promotion, whatever promotion he might be in at a given moment. The longtime UFC fighter and former welterweight champ isn’t about to change any time soon. Yet the moments following a loss are a fighter at their most bare. So occasionally, something slips through that stone-faced veneer. Such was the case following Lawler’s unanimous decision loss to Colby Covington at UFC Newark.
Asked about a potential match-up between Covington and champ Kamaru Usman, two men Lawler knows quite well, ‘Ruthless’ answered by saying “It’s going to be a good fight. Obviously Colby likes to put volume on. Usman is very strong, rangy, smart fighter. It’s going to be a good fight.”
The usual Robbie Lawler answers. His final comment was more telling, however. “I think the UFC is going to do a good job of promoting what they like to promote.”
What they like to promote. Leading up to UFC Newark, promotion was a big question. Colby Covington, for better or worse, was front and center because of his antics. The former interim champ planted a few “fans” at his open workout appearance, and brought them (a trio of girls hopefully well-paid) alongside him for his brief press scrum. The UFC pushed knockout compilations and highlights of Lawler, but in general, promotion was at a minimum.
It will most certainly kick into high gear for Usman vs. Covington, and become the sort of spectacle Lawler would no doubt prefer not to associate himself with.
In the meantime, he reflected on the loss with media outlets including Cageside Press back stage at the Prudential Center on Saturday. “Colby did a really good job, I just wasn’t able to do enough. He kept a good pace, mixed it up with takedowns,” Lawler observed. “My body felt good, I just need to go back to the drawing board and go back to work. There’s a few things I can strengthen up and get better. It’s a learning experience. I actually felt pretty good going out in the cage, I felt pretty good in there. Just need to get back to work.”
Covington, a wrestler few suspected would want to throw hands with Lawler, threw the most strikes ever in a UFC fight at UFC Newark. It’s not something that Lawler was really cognizant of. “No, because I’m just trying to duck and dodge and weave. You don’t pay attention to those things. You’re not counting punches. His volume was high, he kept a good rate, but it’s part of the game.”
He was never really hurt, Lawler said. “He did some good stuff,” ‘Ruthless’ admitted, “and I didn’t.” As simple as that, apparently.
One of the big talking points coming out of UFC Newark was a comment Covington made regarding Matt Huges, a friend of Lawler. “Robbie should have learned a lesson from his buddy Matt Hughes. You stay off the tracks when the train is coming through,” said Covington post-fight. Hughes, of course, was in his truck when it was hit by a train, and is still feeling the effects.
“I couldn’t even really hear what he said,” Lawler said when asked if Covington’s comments crossed the line. “Guys are crossing the line, seems like the media loves it, they eat it up. That’s for you guys to write about and have your own opinions on it. It’s not for me to have an opinion [on it]. Everyone wants to see what I have to say. What do you guys have to say about it? It is what it is, I’m just worried about myself as usual.”
Watch the full UFC Newark post-fight press scrum with Robbie Lawler above!
