UFC 201 Is Another Night in the Lost Reign of Robbie Lawler

If a Robbie Lawler opponent falls but no one is watching, does he make a sound?

If you’re one of the ones who has been watching the past few years, you’d probably say so. They tend to grunt or groan as they’re wailed on, produce unnatural thuds and smacks from their body cavities as various shots land or maybe offer a weird smush as their nose gives way to be replaced by a gaping crater.

Once more on Saturday night, the UFC will seek to answer the question as it pits it meanest, most savage champion against Tyron Woodley—a challenger most people know as much for briefly being silent muscle in Straight Outta Compton as they do for his road to a title shot.

As a result, UFC 201 enters the promotion’s busy summer schedule with all the pomp and circumstance of a church mouse, even if the champion on its poster is likely going to produce something incredibly GIF-worthy while nobody is watching.

In as much as those remarkable happenings have become a hallmark of Lawler as a resurgent UFC talent and indefatigable champion—his 600-plus-day reign the longest at 170 pounds since the legendary Georges St-Pierre vacated the title after more than 2,000 days in 2013—so too has the decided lack of notice he’s gotten.

Yes, the hardcore fans loves him because they know he’s going to give them their money’s worth or go out on his shield trying, but his continued lack of exposure to broader audiences is doing little to make him a true superstar.

It’s strange in a way, given Lawler is easily the most compelling career story on the roster and the type of intense, muted firebrand who comes off as bizarrely charismatic. He was a prospect while his sport was still prospective, he spent a decade in purgatory fighting people you’ve never heard of in places you didn’t know existed for amounts you wouldn’t believe were available, and he returned to the UFC under cover of darkness on the whim of Dana White.

He’s gone 8-1 since that return in February 2013, narrowly losing a Fight of the Year title bout to Johny Hendricks in 2014 before avenging the defeat a few fights later and never looking back. He’s defended the welterweight title twice—once against Rory MacDonald in the 2015 Fight of the Year and once against Carlos Condit in a fight that's likely to be named Fight of the Year for 2016.

"

I really want to make fun of Robbie Lawler's weird prison tattoo on his lower back. But what if he has Twitter?

— Jonathan Snowden (@JESnowden) July 28, 2016"

That Lawler renaissance, born of his role as MMA’s foremost purveyor of poetic viciousness and buoyed by just enough good feeling from those who watched him meet his potential, suggests the man who’s been Ruthless for 15 years deserves better than he’s gotten on the attention front.

Saturday night, he’ll headline an event jammed between UFC 200 and the Conor McGregor-Nate Diaz rematch—a card that practically screams “save your money” to the casual fan. The Condit fight happened when as many people were in airports heading home from breaks as there were in bars or on couches waiting to see him in action. He also fought MacDonald on a McGregor undercard, so you can imagine how much attention he received there.

This is not to suggest the UFC has buried Lawler intentionally. He’s fought on Fox a couple of times and was heavily featured in ads during the most recent show on the network. There’s even an argument to be made that his appearance on that McGregor show last summer—when he acquitted himself more than admirably and perhaps legendarily—did more to help him than to hurt him.

Yet the fact remains there doesn’t seem to be a hype commensurate with what Lawler is guaranteed to provide come fight night, and that’s something of a shame.

Should Lawler best Woodley at UFC 201, he’ll have defended his welterweight title three times. Only Pat Miletich, Matt Hughes and St-Pierre have done it more, and none did it with the ferocity and bombast of the reigning champion.

Lawler is the best thing going in MMA, the man who proves success can be found by being exciting, provided you have the willpower and guts to find it.

If he could only find a little more attention for that fact, things would truly be perfect for him.

Follow me on Twitter @matthewjryder!