Love of sport keeping UFC’s Lawler focused

Even when he was mired in a 2-4 stretch that culminated with a decision loss to Lorenz Larkin in July 2012, Robbie Lawler never lost confidence.

He believed it was just a matter of time until the hard work he was putting in at the gym would start to pay off in the cage.

Lawler was right.

He was brought over to the UFC shortly after the loss to Larkin as part of the purchase of Strikeforce and he has never looked back. Lawler has won seven of his eight fights since and is the reigning welterweight champion.

While it would be easy to blame the fact he was competing in what was perceived as an inferior organization and was having trouble getting enthusiastic about his fights, Lawler insists that was never the case.

"It has never been a motivation thing. I'm a fighter. I always show up and give it my all. It just wasn't my time. It's always about just doing whatever I can do to get better. I know what I'm capable of, for some reason it just wasn't showing up," said Lawler, who will defend his belt against Carlos Condit in the main event of UFC 195 on Jan. 2 at the MGM Grand. "It's not like all of a sudden I hit the lottery. This is the payoff for years of hard work and just everything coming together."

Condit said that while Lawler's turnaround was unexpected, it wasn't shocking.

"I would say I was surprised because rarely do you see a guy have a resurgence quite like that," Condit said. "But he's always had the skills and always had the talent. It's not like he was a terrible fighter or anything. He was always an amazing fighter with just a few things that weren't falling into place for him."

Lawler largely credits his coaches at American Top Team in Florida, where he began training in late 2012.

The biggest influence was harnessing all of his ability in a more focused direction.

"It comes down to doing the things I've been working on my whole life and having coaches to bring everything together," Lawler said. "I have the tools and I've always had them, but it's about bringing everything together and having them all sharp at the right time."

One thing that stayed consistent was his attitude. Lawler said he never let the outcomes of his fights affect his attitude.

"I swear even when I was losing i was having fun. I love going to the gym every day," he said. "This is the wrong sport to be in if you don't love it. You get in the fifth round in a fight like that one I just had (against Rory MacDonald in July), you can't be doing it for a paycheck. You're doing it because you love this."

A heavyweight contender bout has been added to UFC 195 as Stipe Miocic will fight Andrei Arlovski on the card.

Miocic was forced to pull out of a scheduled bout against Ben Rothwell in Dublin last week. Arlovski has six straight wins, including four since returning to the UFC.

JONES WANTS TO FIGHT IN APRIL — Now that former UFC champion Jon Jones has been reinstated from an indefinite suspension, the question remains when he will step back in the cage.

His manager, Malki Kawa, said during an appearance on "The MMA Hour" on Monday that Jones has a date in mind.

"We're working that out with UFC right now. Personally, I think in a perfect world, New York gets approved and he comes back April 23 at Madison Square Garden," Kawa said. "I mean that's in a perfect world. If the stars align for UFC, the state of New York, and for Jon to come back and win his belt in front of his home crowd. That would be pretty cool."

Jones will almost certainly fight Daniel Cormier, who became light heavyweight champion with a win over Anthony Johnson after Jones was stripped of the belt due to legal issues.

'AUNTIE RONDA' WORKING OVERTIME — UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is busy preparing for her Nov. 14 title defense against Holly Holm in Melbourne, Australia, but she has apparently found time to do some coaching on the side.

Vin Diesel, who co-starred with Rousey in "Fast and Furious 7," said his 7-year-old daughter has been hitting the gym with his famous friend.

That has alleviated some of the concerns he may ordinarily have when Hania Riley reaches dating age.

"First of all, I feel sorry for anyone that has to (date her). I wouldn't want that on my worst enemy because I'm just that kind of dad. I've been thinking about this since the day I cut the umbilical cord and because of that I made a decision early on that I was going to do everything in my power to empower her to handle it herself," Diesel told Uproxx. "Because of her 'Auntie' Ronda Rousey, she is now an orange belt with stripes in judo. I'm dealing with it early. I'm creating a beast and I want her to be able to say 'no means no.' "

JOHNSON JAILED — Former UFC and Bellator heavyweight fighter Lavar Johnson is jailed in California following an assault on his girlfriend in August, TMZ reported.

According to the report, Johnson slammed his girlfriend against the wall, kneed her several times in the head and punched her 11 times during the attack on Aug. 11.

The victim required staples to close one of the wounds. Johnson, who last fought in the UFC in Febraury 2013, pleaded not guilty to four felony charges stemming from the incident. He remains jailed on $175,000 bail and is next expected in court on Nov. 20.

He went 1-3 in four fights with Bellator, last competing in September 2014.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.