LAS VEGAS – As Robbie Lawler kneeled with his hand over his face, the cheers rained down on him. In that moment, 22 years flashed before his welled-up eyes. “I was trying to look at my career and just being grateful for this moment and everything that’s happened,” Lawler told MMA Junkie and other reporters after his successful retirement fight at UFC 290 . “(I was) just being grateful and thankful for it – just gratitude is what I was embracing.” Lawler (30-16 MMA, 15-10 UFC) went out on a high note – a rarity among MMA retirees. He knocked out Niko Price (15-7 MMA, 7-7 UFC) in 38 seconds much to the delight of the crowd at T-Mobile Arena. Even the typically stoic and blank-faced Lawler, 41, couldn’t hold back the emotion, especially not when the UFC played a special retirement highlight package for him as he stood in the cage.
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