Tom Lawlor

Thomas Joseph Lawlor (born May 15, 1983) is an American professional wrestler, retired mixed martial artist and podcast host.

Lawlor had a sister who died in a car accident in 2001.

He dedicated his UFC on Fuel TV 9 win to his late sister.

Lawlor previously lived in Providence, RI.

He, along with TUF alumni and MMA veteran Seth Petruzelli and Brazilian jiu-jitsu Black Belt Mike Lee, was previously a part-owner and coach at The Jungle MMA – Orlando BJJ, MMA, Muay Thai The Jungle MMA and Fitness.

He currently trains at Lauzon MMA and works with Team Aggression in Bridgewater, Massachusetts.

Lawlor has made himself known by imitating other fighters (Art Jimmerson, Dan Severn, Harold Howard, Genki Sudo, and Conor McGregor) during the weigh-ins and octagon entrances.

These impersonations, along with his tongue-in-cheek ring entrance routines (paying homage to Hulk Hogan and Apollo Creed amongst others) have made Lawlor something of a cult figure among fans.

He attended Estero High School in Florida and was on the wrestling team, then continued his wrestling career at the University of Central Florida where he won three NCWA national championships in the 235 lb weight class in 2003, 2004, 2005 and as a freshman placed third.

He began Brazilian jiu-jitsu in his home town of Fall River.

Before turning professional in 2007, Lawlor made his MMA debut as an amateur in 2003, facing Rich Mitchell at Xtreme Fighting 5 on July 26, 2003.

He won via KO just under a minute into the fight, and would subsequently take time off from MMA.

Lawlor appeared on the eighth season of The Ultimate Fighter.

He submitted Ryan Lopez with a rear naked choke in the elimination round to earn his spot in the TUF house.

He was chosen by Frank Mir to be a part of Team Mir.

He was selected to fight first against Ryan Bader and despite a good showing, Lawlor lost by knockout in the first round, due to a ground and pound punches.

Lawlor won his UFC debut against former The Ultimate Fighter 8 castmate Kyle Kingsbury via unanimous decision.

They fought on the preliminary card at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale.

After the fight with Kingsbury, Lawlor moved down in weight after realizing he was too small for light heavyweight.

Lawlor had his second fight for the UFC, when he took on C. B. Dollaway at UFC 100.

Tom won in an upset, putting Dollaway to sleep with a guillotine choke 55 seconds into the first round and was awarded Submission of the Night honors.

A professional since 2007, he was also a cast member of SpikeTV's The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir.

Lawlor was born in Fall River, Massachusetts before moving to Swansea, Massachusetts, and then finally to Fort Myers, Florida.

In 2010, Lawlor announced his intention to tone down his pre-fight antics.

Lawlor fought Aaron Simpson on January 11, 2010, at UFC Fight Night 20.

Lawlor showed off his improved striking skills in the first round by dominating Simpson, but lost a controversial split decision after gassing in the third round.

However, the decision of the fight was met with widespread criticism toward the current scoring system in Mixed Martial Arts.

Lawlor was scheduled to face Tim Credeur on May 8, 2010, at UFC 113, but Credeur was forced off the card with an injury.

Lawlor instead faced Joe Doerksen, losing via submission in the second round.

Lawlor earned a much needed victory over Patrick Cote on October 23, 2010, at UFC 121 in a performance that once again displayed Lawlor's superb wrestling and jiu jitsu skills by successfully executing five takedowns, threatening with submissions (nearly finishing Cote in the first round with an arm-triangle choke before Cote blatantly grabbed the fence to escape) in every round and showing his improved cardio as he easily cruised to a 30-27 unanimous decision victory.

Lawlor was expected to face Maiquel Falcão on August 27, 2011, at UFC 134 but Falcao was suddenly released from the promotion on May 11.

Lawlor was expected to remain on the Brazilian card, but instead took a bout against Kyle Noke on August 14, 2011, at UFC on Versus 5.

However, Lawlor pulled out of the fight in early July 2011.

Lawlor lost to Chris Weidman on November 19, 2011, at UFC 139 due to a D'Arce choke in 2:07 of the first round.

Lawlor faced Jason MacDonald on May 15, 2012, his birthday, at UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier.

He won the fight via KO in the first round and earned Knockout of the Night for his efforts.

Lawlor fought Francis Carmont on November 17, 2012, at UFC 154.

At the weigh in, Lawlor wore a mask resembling that of the professional wrestler the Shockmaster and deliberately tripped going through the curtain in an homage to the Shockmaster incident.

He is currently signed to New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was the inaugural and longest reigning NJPW Strong Openweight Champion, and Major League Wrestling (MLW), where he is the current MLW World Tag Team Champion in his first reign (with Davey Boy Smith Jr.), a former one-time MLW World Heavyweight Champion and the winner of the first-ever Battle Riot in 2018 and the 2020 Opera Cup tournament.

Lawlor competed in the Light Heavyweight division of the UFC.