Dana White praises Robbie Lawler's UFC 157 performance, says "hungry" Strikeforce fighters raising the bar

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The influx of fighters from Strikeforce to the UFC has brought about a number of surprising and entertaining results, with several pulling off upsets over their UFC counterparts. It started in full force at UFC 156 earlier this month, with Isaac Vallie-Flagg, Bobby Green, and Tyron Woodley each picking up wins, and it continued at UFC 157 on Saturday night.

Caros Fodor arguably should have gotten the decision nod against Sam Stout, instead losing a questionable split decision, but then Robbie Lawler stopped Josh Koscheck on the night's main card as well. UFC President Dana White was pleased with Lawler's performance on the card, and after the event he talked about how those fighters from Strikeforce will elevate the rest of the roster.

"He looks good at 170 pounds – way better than he did at 185," White said (via MMAJunkie.com). "He looked slow and lethargic and out of shape. He looked like he didn't give a s*** at 185. He looked like the old Robbie Lawler at 170 pounds."

"Strikeforce had hungry fighters. These f***ing guys are hungry. Most of them haven't fought in a year. They didn't know what was going on with their career. Couldn't pay their bills. All this s***. Now they're in here and they know what it was like to be [over there]. They're hungry, man. I love it.

"The Strikeforce kids, they're going to raise the bar on all these other guys."

Penick's Analysis: There is some truth to that sentiment. Knowing it's win or go home has the Strikeforce guys especially out to prove something, and they've been doing that. Whether they can continue it in subsequent fights remains to be seen, but there's no questioning the surprising success they've enjoyed thus far inside the Octagon. With many more still to come, those competing against them from the UFC's roster need to be wary of taking them lightly.

[Dana White art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]

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Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_16047.shtml

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