Robbie Lawler survives onslaught from Manhoef to pick up knockout win

Former EliteXC middleweight champion, Robbie Lawler survived the early onslaught from Dutch heavy hitter, Melvin Manhoef to prove he was the better man with a devastating first round knockout at Strikeforce: “Miami” in Sunrise, Florida.

Manhoef does all the stalking early on and backs Lawler up against the cage. A jumping roundhouse from Lawler is met with a kick from Manhoef. Lawler continues to circle and land a nice left, but Manhoef lands a hard leg kick. Manhoef scores with two big combinations while Lawler is covering up, landing punches and hard leg kicks which are hurting his opponent. Manhoef again scores with a leg kick which knocks Lawler off balance. Manhoef throws a jab and is met by a devastating overhand right from Lawler which knocks the Dutchman out cold.

Lawler will naturally move up the pecking order in the division with a win like this as he attempts to get back into the title mix at 185 pounds. As for Manhoef it almost went so well for the Dutchman, but I’m sure he’ll regroup and be back throwing wild haymakers inside the cage in the near future.