Robbie Lawler: Melvin Got Greedy

Strikeforce's Robbie Lawler vs. Melvin Manhoef fight was absolutely amazing.  Melvin is known as one of the hardest hitters in MMA and his power was on full display for the first three and a half minutes of the fight.  He was destroying Lawler's right leg with his inside kicks and then following up with vicious punches and kicks to Lawler's midsection.

At one point in the fight, Lawler appeared to be playing a bit of Scott Smith's possum game, but Melvin did not rush him and instead continued to break down the leg and body.  That game plan was very smart but the bad news for Manhoef is that he abandoned it shortly thereafter.

At around the 3:30 mark in the first round, Melvin sensed that he had Lawler hurt and went in for the kill, which is exactly what Robbie wanted him to do.  Manhoef has a tendency to drop his hands and go balls out when he smells a finish and this time was no different.  Well, actually it was different because Lawler seized the opportunity and blasted Melvin with a looping right hand that left him badly dazed.  Two more punches by Lawler and the fight was over.

Of course, a lot of Internet experts saw the right hand as a lucky punch, but Lawler sure didn't.  He spoke to Showtime's Lucia Rijker in the following video interview and talked about Melvin getting too "greedy" which led to the KO.  Check it out.