Lawler Blames Slow Start, One-Punch Mentality for Defeat

Ask Robbie Lawler and he can tell you exactly why he dropped a unanimous decision to Renato “Babalu” Sobral on Wednesday at Strikeforce “Live” at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles.

The Iowan striker, who fought the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion at a 195-pound catch-weight bout, landed potent leather in spurts throughout three rounds. And although Sobral’s face took greater damage -- including a sizable gash over his left eye that required double-digit stitches – the judges likely awarded the Brazilian the victory for superior aggressiveness and cage control.

“I wasn’t fast enough. I gave up one or two takedowns -- definitely one on the flying knee (attempt)… I thought I was going to come flying in and finish him,” said Lawler. “He caught me with some decent kicks… weird kicks that weren’t shin kicks, but toe kicks which were effective for sure.”

The 28-year-old H.I.T. Squad fighter, who earned a comeback knockout victory over vicious Dutch kickboxer Melvin Manhoef in January, attributed his tepid start to his reliance on his proven one-punch finishing power.

“I thought I was going to knock him out -- plain and simple,” said Lawler. “It was inevitable that (I was going to) put my hands on him and knock out him out and it just never happened… When you can knock people out, sometimes you rely on that a little too much, I think.”

Lawler had his subtler moments, too. In the second round, he tried to bait Sobral in by wobbling out of an exchange. It didn’t fool Sobral, who told Sherdog.com afterward that he was suspicious of Lawler’s ploy. Lawler’s acting job was good enough to raise referee “Big” John’s McCarthy’s doubts, though.

“Big John kind of talked to me (and said), ‘Are you alright?’ and I was like, ‘Shut up! You’re messing up my game,’” said Lawler. “Maybe the judges thought I was hurt (though) and that’s why he got the decision.”

Pre-fight forecasts predicted Sobral, a Gracie jiu-jitsu black belt, would move heaven and Earth to get the fight to the canvas. After a couple of failed takedown attempts, Sobral abandoned that plan and settled into his standup. Lawler said he’d planned for the bout to play out on its feet.

“I expected him to stand because I knew he wasn’t going to be able to take me down,” said Lawler.

What did surprise Lawler was Sobral’s mobility, which forced him to step in with his punches more than he’d have liked. As the clock ran down, Lawler debated how much he should commit to his attacks.

“I wish I could have pressed him a little more and finished him, but I thought the fight was close,” said Lawler, who’s left side was discolored from Sobral’s kicks by bout’s end. “I didn’t want to over-pursue and have him slip underneath and get a stupid takedown at the end.”

Lawler said he felt he’d done enough to win, but accepted defeat gracefully because he’d left the outcome in the hands of the judges.

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker commended Lawler for his performance and named him a likely participant in an 8-man tournament currently in its preliminary stages should middleweight champion Jake Shields decide to exit the organization.

And just as easy as he pointed out what went wrong for him, Lawler had a firm handle on how to fix it.

“I need to establish my jab. I need to stop ‘one hit or quitter’ guys. I can’t load up and do stupid stuff. Once I got my jab going, you saw what I could do,” said Lawler. “I need to win rounds and still hurt people. I think if I pump my jab and move a little bit more, the knockouts will come.”