Former welterweight champion “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler (28-14, 20 KOs, 1 SUB) will meet veteran Neil Magny (23-7, 7 KOs, 3 SUBs) at UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Rakic on Saturday, August 29 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada. The card features a pivotal light heavyweight matchup between Anthony “Lionheart” Smith (33-15, 18 KOs, 12 SUBs) and Aleksandar Rakic (12-2, 9 KOs, 1 SUB), and a blood feud between Magomed Ankalaev (13-1, 8 KOs) and Ion Cutelaba (15-5, 12 KOs, 2 SUBs). Let’s take a closer look at the matchup between Lawler and Magny, and break down your best online betting options.
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Robbie Lawler (28-14, 20 KOs, 1 SUB)
It’s been a year since we last saw Robbie in action, and based on that performance maybe it’s good he took a break. In a huge matchup against Colby Covington, Lawler literally just practiced his head movement and defense for five rounds, completely unable to find spots to get any offense in under the avalanche of Covington punches. For a guy whose entire brand is built on violence, it was a puzzling encounter that resulted in his fourth loss in five fights.
At 38 years old, what’s Robbie got left? Arguably a hall of famer, the Ruthless One has got tons of fight experience. There’s nothing he hasn’t seen before. And as the MMA adage goes, power is the last thing to go - so we can assume that the vet can lay dudes out with punches. But we have got to question how much he can physically handle. This is a man that’s fought on the same cards as Babalu, Fedor and Frank Trigg. He first fought in the octagon at UFC 37 back in 2002.
He’s coming up on 20 years in a sport where his modus operandi was to knock dudes out. The recent string of losses suggest that Lawler’s time as a relevant welterweight is done. But he’s got a chance to prove that he can still play a big role at 170 here. Magny might be a gatekeeper, but he’s still respected.
Neil Magny (23-7, 7 KOs, 3 SUBs)
Magny’s been a solid, productive fighter who has never truly broken through as a title contender. But give the man some props: not only has he stuck around a loaded division, the 33-year old has earned some big name fights inside the octagon. His resume includes scraps against Demian Maia, Kelvin Gastelum, Hector Lombard, Johny Hendricks, Rafael dos Anjos and Carlos Condit. For years, Magny has been the guy that the UFC relied on to test potential contenders. Beating him means instant respect - and in some cases it earned guys like RDA title consideration.
Magny’s been chugging away, going 4-1 in his past five. Though a 2018 loss to Santiago Ponzinibbio knocked him out of the top tier, the Elevation Fight Team rep has since bounced back with wins over Jingliang Li and Anthony Martin. Those wins aren’t going to move him up in the rankings, but it’s not like they’re scrubs either. But Lawler is on a different level when it comes to name recognition and competition - he is a former champion after all.
Magny is the younger fighter, and as usual he’ll have a height and length advantage at 6’3”. The question here is whether he’ll be able to maintain distance against the powerful Lawler - he should avoid a firefight at all costs.
Significant Striking Stats
Strikes landed per minute: Lawler 3.57 / Magny 3.95
Striking accuracy: Lawler 45% / Magny 47%
Strikes absorbed per minute: Lawler 4.16 / Magny 2.17
Striking defense: Lawler 60% / Magny 57%
Grappling Stats
Takedowns per 15 minutes: Lawler 0.71 / Magny 2.55
Takedown accuracy: Lawler 66% / Magny 44%
Takedown defense: Lawler 65% / Magny 58%
Submission average: Lawler 0.0 / Magny 0.3
UFC Picks
As much as we love Robbie, his recent performances haven’t been very inspiring. He’s still capable of quick, brutal violence, but relying on knockouts is not a formula for success. Magny has solid defense, good wrestling and long-range striking - he should be able to frustrate Robbie in a few different ways and walk away with the decision.
UFC Fight Night: Smith vs. Rakic Card & Odds
Light Heavyweight: Anthony Smith +243 vs. Aleksandar Rakic -303
Light Heavyweight: Ion Cutelaba +277 vs. Magomed Ankalaev -352
Welterweight: Christian Aguilera +297 vs. Sean Brady -381
Middleweight: Alessio Di Chirico -117 vs. Zak Cummings -107
Women’s Flyweight: Emily Whitmire -117 vs. Polyana Viana -107
Women’s Flyweight: Ji Yeon Kim +243 vs. Alexa Grasso -303
Women’s Strawweight: Hannah Cifers +257 vs. Mallory Martin -323
Welterweight: Robbie Lawler +213 vs. Neil Magny -264
Featherweight: Bill Algeo +219 vs. Ricardo Lamas -272
Middleweight: Maki Pitolo +113 vs Impa Kasanganay -137
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