ONE Championship welterweight titleholder Ben Askren -- perhaps the best welterweight not signed to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) -- has a very interesting take on the upcoming title fight between division kingpin Robbie Lawler and Carlos Condit.
The two combatants are set to duke it out in the main event of UFC 195, which goes down on Sat., Jan. 2, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada (details here).
When all is said and done, "Funky" believes Condit will prove victorious since he has more weapons and a better gas tank than "Ruthless." As he stated on The MMA Hour, "The Natural Born Killer" is simply too much for Lawler as the fight goes into the championship rounds.
His prediction.
"I've had my hands on both of these guys. So I know how I stand against them. Not at length, but I have worked out with both of them at some point in the past. I think Carlos, actually. You know what, because I think Carlos has great cardio and great endurance. I think Carlos's weakness is his wrestling, he gets taken down very easy but I don't think Robbie is going to do that, or do it often. I don't think Robbie's got enough in the tank left to knock Carlos out if it goes the distance. Carlos is just going to be picking up the volume and picking up the volume and I see him kind of wearing Robbie out and maybe a TKO finish or something later in the fight. That's how I predict it going. Carlos is dangerous, he's got a lot of weapons that he likes to use. "
The last time Lawler tasted defeat by way of strikes came against Nick Diaz almost a decade ago at UFC 47. Which means "The Natural Born Killer" has his work cut out for him if he wants to prove Askren right.
Then again, five of Condit's last six victories have come by way of technical knockout, so he definitely has the style and pedigree to get it done.
Either way, if history tells us anything, the fight world is in store for one violent night.