Colby Covington was completely and utterly dominant today at UFC On ESPN 5 against Robbie Lawler as he threw an incredible volume of strikes and landed repeated takedowns at will on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
Round One:
The main event is underway in New Jersey.
Covington with a superman punch to start and then trying for the clinch but nothhing doing as lawler tries to unload early.
Covington swinging again though. They reset and Covington goes in for the takedown and presses Lawler up against the cage.
Covington with the double leg and looks to plant Lawler, but though he gets him down he pops straight back up.
Covington doesn’t let go of this clinch though and works for another takedown and eventually lands it. Lawler patiently waits for his opportunity and stands again. ‘Chaos’ brings him back down and Lawler is back up quickly.
However it’s not long before Covington again brings him down and this time he’s looking to take his back and is putting an arm around his neck, but not fully committing to a choke. He gives up on that and goes back around to the front as Lawler sits against the cage.
On the other side now Covington is trying to work towards the back with that arm threatening close to his neck. He changes arms now, but still not full committing to the choke.
It continues like tat until Lawler suddenly finds rooom to escape and explodes back to his feet.
Covington grinning though and throws strikes to set up another takedown and has ‘Ruthless’ back to the mat yet again in the final minute of the round.
Lawler stands with 10 seconds of the round remaining and Covington throws heavy leather that’s mostly blocked until the bell sounds.
Round Two:
leg kick for Covington and then tries for a head kick that just misses. Another leg kick. Body kick for lawler, but then Covington throws punches to get into the takedown again and easily brings him down.
Lawler sitting against the cage. He’s able to stand, but Covington still clinched up. left hook for Covington. Spinning elbow attempt from Covington which allows lawler to escape.
Jab for Lawler and then a leg kick, but then Covington brings him back down effortlessly. Lawler back up. right hand for Covington.
Covington backs up to striking range. Uppercut for him and then the takedown again. lawler’s just got no answer to this at the moment.
Covington looking to take the back and Lawler stands, then Covington is into the clinch again. Back to striking range thhough now and Covington throwing out punches.
This is where Lawler wants the fight, but right now he’s just covering up for the most part and taking a breather. He does land a left hand over the top though.
Covington staying busy with his jab pumping out. Now a hard body kick. He goes for that again, but higher.
Lawler still in defensive mode, but slowly pressing forward. Covington’s pace not slowing though as he continues to keep his output high without putting too much behind his punches and lands two leg kicks to end the round.
Round Three:
Leg kick for Covington and then another. He pumps out some light punches and just as Lawler is looking to return fire Covington swoops in for his latest successfully landed takedown.
Lawler back up and Covington clinches and then separates. let hand over the top from Lawler without much steam on it.
They exchange in close and Lawler lands. One-two for Covington and then driving into a takedown. Lawler stays upright for now as Covington goes to his knees and then stands back up still in the clinch. They move away from the cage in the clinch and Lawler lands uppercuts.
Back to striking now. Right and an uppercut from Covington. He goes back to the clinch in the center of the cage.
Striking range and Covington lands a left hand then threatens with a jumping knee before going back to clinching against the cage.
lawler circles out. left hand for Covington. Leg kick. Another. Right hand for Lawler as Covington also connects. Short punches from Covington and then a solid jab for Lawler.
Right hook for Lawler. Punch lands clean for Covington. lawler with head movement here to avoid Covington’s light punches.
Jab for Lawler. He’s putting out the jab , but his loaded up uppercut misses. Covington with light lefts and rights, keeping busy and keeping Lawler occupied without putting much power into anything.
Lawler likely tired from the grappling exchanges early and not throwing nearly as much in response as you would expect here in the final seconds of the round.
Round Four:
Inside leg kick for Covington. left hand. lawler with a jab. Another. Covington with repeated jabs and a counter punch lands from Lawler.
More powerful left hook just grazes Lawler. Multiple jabs for Covington then a straight and goes into the clinch against the cage.
They move towards the center of the cage and Covington lands a knee to the body before returning to striking range.
More jabs and a left hand for Covington. Lawler just doesn’t seem to have much in teh tank because he’s not throwing much and when he does there’s not the power that we’d expect from the ‘Ruthless’ one.
Covington stays active then goes for a single leg, but this time Lawler escapes and stays upright.
Can he do anythhing with this though? light strikes upstairs and then a solid body punch from Covington. They clinc up and Covington lands a knee to the body.
Striking range and Covington lands a hook and an uppercut. Now a takedown from Covington and lawler gets back to his feet against the cage.
Covington happy to settle in the clinch for now landing a few strikes, but mostly just grinding on the already tired Lawler.
Covington back to striking again. left hand gets through for him and just constant pressure. lawler actively defending as he has done all fight long, but just can’t seem to get his offense going.
Round Five:
Final five minutes and lets see if Lawler has left something in the tank to come on strong here.
Leg kick for Covington. Now one upstairs that lands to the shoulder. Jumping knee to the body for ‘Chaos’. Another leg kick.
Lawler circling and landing the jab. Now a body punch. Jab for Covington. Now pressing Lawler up against the cage.
So little use of the left hand from lawler. he needs to start swinging for the fences. Instead he’s still mostly working the jab. Covington not with quit the same output as before now, just picking his shots here and there.
Brief clinch from Covington. Left hook for him. Lawler with an uppercut. jab for lawler and then just misses on the uppercut. he lands again and that seems to give him some momentum and he moves forward with more purpose, then starts to slow down again. Covington just pumping out the jab.
Jab for Lawler. And again. Approaching the final minute of the fight. Nice jab for Covington. Have to wonder if lawler is injured, so little use of the left hand.
A left does land for Lawler and then loads up on a right hook that misses. Spinning kick misses for Covington but he follows up with a backfist that lands. Lawler eats it and that’s the final action of the fight.
Decision:
A completely one-sided victory then for Covington and unsurprisingly it’s a clean sweep on the scorecards (50-44, 50-45 x2).
