Matt Brown explains why a loss to Robbie Lawler is the ‘favorite fight’ of his entire career
Robbie Lawler officially joins the UFC Hall of Fame in July with one of the most storied resumes in the history of the sport filled with brutal knockouts, championship wins and all-time great fights.
Back in 2014, Lawler competed in a No. 1 contender’s matchup against Matt Brown in a five-round main event on FOX with the winner moving on to battle welterweight champion Johny Hendricks. While it was a back-and-forth war, Lawler eventually came out on top with unanimous decision win but despite the result not going his way, Brown actually considers that his favorite fight for his entire career.
“He was definitely my favorite fight that I had,” Brown said about Lawler on The Fighter vs. The Writer. “I think the Erick Silva fight is the one that most people talk about as my most exciting fight but for me, Robbie Lawler was my favorite fight. Not only because it’s Robbie Lawler and you get to go in there and have a great battle with him, but I learned more from that fight than I have from any other fight in my life.
“We did a media tour where we did like two or three days where we’d eat lunch together and do all these different interviews sitting next to each other and he was just the coolest guy. Just relaxed and comfortable. After the fight, we were cool. We talked, I’ve seen him a couple of times and we chat about things. Just a tremendous person.”
It’s not often that a fighter points to a loss over a win as a favorite moment but Brown heaped praise on Lawler after spending 25 minutes in the cage together.
He may not have gotten his hand raised that night but Brown knows he walked away a better fighter and that’s largely thanks to what Lawler taught him that night.
“One of the most intelligent, strategic fighters out there that again, I’ve talked about this before, you don’t think of that when you think of Robbie Lawler,” Brown said. “Going into that fight, I thought he’s just going to brawl, he’s going to be unexpected but he actually outsmarted me in a lot of ways and I didn’t expect that.
“You said it perfect, he’s a very well deserved Hall of Famer. He’s been in this sport since 2004. I started training in 2004 and he was already in there. Just a great person and a great fighter, props to him.”
Another aspect to the fight that Brown singled out was what separated Lawler from so many of his past opponents that he actually slotted the former UFC welterweight champion into a category reserved for very few in MMA.
“One of the big things I learned in that fight was what a warrior is,” Brown explained. “We’re all fighters. We can fight for things but a warrior stays strategic and stays intelligent through the battle and continues to strategize while under pressure, while taking shots, while even being rocked.
“I learned the difference between what a fighter is and a warrior is that night. Robbie is a true warrior in every sense of the word. You can’t give enough props to Robbie Lawler. He’s been a pioneer of this sport and been at the top of this sport for as long as I can remember.”
For all that Brown accomplished in his career including the record for the most knockouts in UFC welterweight history (13) and sitting tied for second in that same category for the entire UFC roster, the retired veteran still puts Lawler in a different category for his long list of accolades.
From debuting back in 2001 and fighting all the way through 2023 while putting together a career that really does make him one of one, Brown couldn’t imagine a better candidate to get recognized for the UFC Hall of Fame.
“People call me a legend all the time and I’m like ‘that’s bullshit.’ Robbie Lawler is a f*cking legend,” Brown said. “We’ve all got to love him. Never a big trash talker. Stayed true to himself the whole time. He’s one of those guys that you kind of forget that he’s there until he’s there and you’re like oh yeah, f*cking Robbie. Just a savage.
“I’m sure he’s inspired thousands of athletes coming up for many years. He inspired me at the beginning. He was one of my favorites at the beginning. It was an honor to share the cage with him and much love and respect to Robbie. Hope the best for him in the future.”