Robbie Lawler: Lucky Punch or Playing the Rope-a-Dope?

Did Robbie Lawler pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat or did he execute his gameplan to a tee.  Similar to most discussions in life, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.  Manhoef spent the first 3:35 of the fight dominating Robbie Lawler.  His inside out kicks continued to brutalize Lawler's legs (as was noted by his limping around the cage), he stalked Lawler and pressed him against the cage, and he landed the better of the exchanges.  Then Robbie Lawler proved what makes MMA so exciting and yet so frustrating for some.  Despite getting dominated (granted it was only 3 minutes) he ended the fight with one overhand right.  Lawler could not have connected better as he hit Melvin square on the jaw (left side) and then square on the jaw (right side) as Manhoef fell to the mat. 

SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Miami

It was obvious from the start that Lawler intended to use Manhoef aggression against him.  He was not throwing a lot of punches and it appeared as if he was waiting for Melvin to come in guns blazing.  Unfortunately for Robbie, Melvin was taking a smart approach with concentrated aggression as opposed to a full out swarm fest.  Melvin appeared to be cautious of Robbie's power (obviously for good reason) and decided to destroy Lawler with leg kicks and bursts of punches.  Melvin was not making mistakes and not throwing wild.  Robbie was determined to wait for the moment and in doing so he became a heavy bag for Melvin's kicks.  Similar to the broadcast team, I though Lawler was waiting for the opportunity to duck under a punching flurry and secure a takedown.  With Manhoef not throwing the flurry I was expecting a short night for Lawler.  However, Robbie was not waiting for the takedown, but rather the counter opportunity and he took full advantage of it.

With Robbie's back against the cage, Melvin came in ready to unleash some aggression.  However, he got sloppy and lowered his hands.  Not only where his hands low, but he lowered them when he was closing the distance.  He did not use the leg kick this time to throw Robbie off balance, he did not lead with the jab, and he walked right into the end of his night.  It was a perfect punch by Lawler that connected right on.  Robbie's gameplan ended up working and he was right to try and counter the intense fury of Melvin Manhoef so I applaud him for an excellent performance.  However, if you are going to tell me that his plan was to get beat up and wait for an opening that is untrue.  Melvin surprised everyone with his newly found calculated aggression, including Robbie who did not change his gameplan.  Three minutes into a fight is a little early to be adapting, but if the fight made it through round 1 I wonder if Robbie would have adjusted.  In the end, Lawler did what he intended to do and his strategy was the right choice.  However, up until that moment at the 3:35 mark, Lawler looked like a deer in headlights as Manhoef was able to completely control the fight up until that moment.  Lawler was not a magician last night, but neither was he a world class actor.  Up until that overhand right, Lawler was getting beat up.  It was not a ploy (except that one spot where he pretended to be woozy, seriously, who believed that).