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To add onto this, people who are backing Lawler need to ask themselves why he took this fight against Magny on 20 days short notice.Robbie Lawler's fight history during the past 5 years:
• loss vs. Covington (August 2019 - Lawler looked lost throughout this fight.)
• loss vs. Askren (March 2019 - A controversial stoppage, depending who you ask. I thought he was out and woke back up when Askren let the choke go.)
• loss vs. RDA (December 2017 - Lawler looked lost throughout this fight.)
• win vs. Cerrone (July 2017 - A 2-1 decision for Lawler; he won R1, lost R2, and R3 was very close.)
• loss vs. Woodley (July 2016 - Quick KO.)
• win vs. Condit (January 2016 - Condit landed almost double the significant strikes and landed the most strikes in every round, but still lost a split-decision. Striking stats are at the bottom of this page.)
• win vs. MacDonald (July 2015) MacDonald was on his way to winning a unanimous decision on all three of the judges scorecards -- I attached the scorecards in the spoiler below -- until his nose shattered via a jab on his nose in Round 5, and he said he could only see black and had to quit.
Lawler hasn't finished anyone in 5 years, and that last finish was against Rory via shattered nose in Round 5. Prior to that, Lawler's last finish was 6+ years ago against Jake Ellenberger. You have to go back to 7+ years ago to see Lawler consistently finishing fights, which is what most people think about when they hear/see Robbie Lawler's name.
Lawler can fight someone like Magny on a full camp whenever he wants. So why did he accept a short notice fight? I don't think it's because he "just wanted to get back in there." He's at the stage of his career where he can fight almost anyone at welterweight, at any time, on a full camp.
If Lawler needs the money, then I understand. This would mean that he needs quick cash and isn't expecting to win a technical 15-minute decision against someone who will likely beat him via decision. This makes me think that Lawler will start fast in Round 1 like he did against Cerrone, except that with Cerrone he had the ability to take Round 2 off and come back in Round 3 to win a close fight -- Magny won't let Lawler coast to a decision win.
I think Magny will win most of the time in this spot against this version of Lawler in 2020, but I don't feel comfortable betting Magny's decision line, which most people think is his likeliest path to victory.