For a guy who makes his living knocking opponents senseless, Robbie Lawler admits he’s had considerably little practice doing it in his earlier career.

“I went through a patch where I did not spar for the longest time,” Lawler told MMAjunkie. “I just watched other people spar and shadowboxed and learned from their mistakes.”

But when those mistakes began to mount, leading him to a 3-5 patch in Strikeforce that culminated in a lackluster decision loss to Lorenz Larkin, Lawler decided it was time for a change.

As it happened, that realization coincided with a partnership between his longtime manager Monte Cox and Florida’s American Top Team, as well as the shuttering of Strikeforce. Lawler (22-9 MMA, 7-3 UFC), who was born in San Diego but grew up in Iowa’s Quad Cities, moved south to join forces with the famed team and was reassigned to the UFC after a seven-year absence.

Since then, he’s done a lot more punching in the gym, and he’s won three straight fights – two by knockout – to secure a shot at the UFC welterweight title. On Saturday at UFC 171, he meets Johny Hendricks (15-2, 10-2) for the vacant title in the 170-pound division. The event takes place at Dallas’ American Airlines Center and airs live on pay-per-view.

“Everything’s kind of clicking at the right time,” Lawler said. “My skills are getting better, and I’m getting stronger and training with a great team. It’s awesome to be a part of.”

In 2002, Lawler splashed onto the UFC stage as a 20-year-old knockout artist with three straight wins. A product of another famed MMA academy, Miletich Fighting Systems, he later stumbled in back-to-back fights and was released from the promotion, which lead him on a tour of competitors to the now-industry leader.

UFC President Dana White said he felt Lawler wasn’t ready to return to the UFC during his slump, which happened while he fought in the middleweight class. But Lawler said he wasn’t fighting inside the octagon because the money was so good outside it.

“I wasn’t ready to come back,” he said. “Maybe fighting-wise, I was. But everything happens for a reason. I’m here now and that’s all that matters.”

And now that he’s here, he might actually be reaping the benefit of not taking repeated punches to the head in the gym. Unlike other fighters with his longevity, he hasn’t taken the damage that might shorten his career.

“I think it was a good thing,” Lawler said. “In that patch, I was knocking a lot of people out. I just think the further that I got away from that at the higher level, it was harder to be sharp, or as sharp as I could be. So sparring was something I needed to do when I came back to the UFC.”

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