Two very potent welterweights waged war last night (July 27, 2013) as Robbie Lawler looked to continue his torrid run against late replacement Bobby Voelker on the UFC on Fox 8 main card in Seattle, Washington.
Lawler was originally expecting to face Taric Saffiedine in a battle of rising contenders, but Voelker was hoping to present a challenge on short notice.
That didn't happen.
From start to finish, Voelker was not much of a threat, unable to defend himself against Lawler's aggressive striking with not just his punches but his kicks and knees.
This was a fired up Lawler, who really pushed the pace and kept Voelker guessing by mixing up his attack. Voelker, who had relied on his ability to take punishment and eventually dish it back out once his opponents began to slow down, never got the opportunity because Lawler hit harder than anyone he'd previously fought and showed no signs of fading.
In fact, Lawler only got stronger as the fight wore on and he gained confidence in his ability to tag the Kansas City native.
The "Ruthless" one tagged Voelker with some heavy blows at the end of the first round, but it wasn't enough to finish the bout, although it set up the finish moments later.
Just 20 seconds into the second round, Lawler blasted Voelker with a perfectly timed head kick just as Voelker ducked down, creating serious shin on forehead impact.
Voelker went down, looking to be in serous trouble and a couple right hands from the ATT product was all it took to put him away for good.
For Bobby Voelker, he did the best with what he had, but he was clearly no match for Lawler in this fight. Heart and toughness only gets you so far and he was far too slow and not athletic enough to keep up with his opponent. There's a place for fighters like Voelker in the UFC because he's almost always going to put on entertaining fights, but that place is the undercard against the mid and lower-level talent on the roster. He got a harsh dose of reality last night against one of the more dangerous welterweights on the roster.
Next up for Voelker will likely be someone along the lines of Seth Baczynski, Jordan Mein or perhaps Dan Miller.
For complete UFC on Fox 8 results, including blow-by-blow, fight-by-fight coverage of the entire event as well as immediate post-fight reaction click here, here and here.