Pat Miletich: Lawler would absolutely wreck St. Pierre
Former 170 pound world champion Pat Miletich is the father of the greatest UFC welterweight lineage of all time. The Iowan first captured UFC gold, and was then followed by his student Matt Hughes.
Now, long-time Miletich protege Robbie Lawler is the UFC welterweight champion. "Ruthless" won the title by beating Johny Hendricks in a rematch, last December, but Miletich recently told Submission Radio that he'd also pick his guy to beat the greatest welterweight of all time, Georges St. Pierre, should they ever fight.
"At the time Georges St. Pierre was the champion and I told people, and a lot of people laughed at me about that, but I said Robbie Lawler is the worst possible match up for George St. Pierre. Robbie will absolutely wreck him," the coach said.
"And now obviously we didn't get to find out about that match up because Georges has stepped away for a while, or maybe for good, we don't know. But Robbie is a bad match up for almost anybody because of his skill set and how dangerous he is and how hard he hits."
According to Miletich, GSP would not have a striking advantage over Lawler, and would also not be able to hold him down for five rounds. "Georges was a guy that was very good at the transition game, very good at making people think they're in a boxing match and hitting takedowns when people least expect it. [He was] very good at holding people down, very good at controlling people, and pretty dang good with his jab and setting stuff up off of that jab," he admitted.
"But Robbie is a much more refined striker than Georges is. He hits much harder and Georges certainly would not be able to hold Rob down and ride out a decision. It just wouldn't happen. So given those two things, it would not be a good match up for Georges period."
Miletich takes pride in Lawler's career resurgence in the UFC, after joining American Top Team. More than a decade after he burst onto the scene, Lawler has finaly fulfilled his potential.
The biggest reason for his success, is Lawler's sharp mind, according to his old coach. "I think that the main thing is Robbie when he trains, he trains very hard and he's got good work ethic. He's an exceptional athlete, he's very smart, he is very observant," he said.
"He watches the sport, he watches boxing, he watches kickboxing, and he studies things. He is generally a pretty quiet guy, but he's always thinking, and that's something."
