| Tom Lawlor | |
|---|---|
 Lawlor in 2019 | |
| Born | Thomas Joseph Lawlor (1983-05-15)May 15, 1983 (age 42) Fall River, Massachusetts, U.S. |
| Other names | Filthy |
| Residence | Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1] |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st) |
| Division | Middleweight Light heavyweight |
| Reach | 75 in (191 cm)[2] |
| Stance | Southpaw |
| Fighting out of | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Team | Syndicate MMA |
| Rank | Black belt inBrazilian Jiu-Jitsuunder Tim Burrill[3] |
| Wrestling | NCWAWrestling[4] |
| Years active | 2003 (amateur), 2007–2021 |
| Mixed martial arts record | |
| Total | 20 |
| Wins | 11 |
| By knockout | 4 |
| By submission | 4 |
| By decision | 3 |
| Losses | 8 |
| By submission | 3 |
| By decision | 4 |
| By disqualification | 1 |
| No contests | 1 |
| Amateur record | |
| Total | 1 |
| Wins | 1 |
| By knockout | 1 |
| Losses | 0 |
| Other information | |
| Mixed martial arts record fromSherdog | |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Tom Lawlor "Filthy" Tom Lawlor |
| Billed height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Trained by | AJ Gallant Chasyn Rance Hack Myers Matt Bentley |
| Debut | July 16, 2005 |
Thomas Joseph Lawlor (born May 15, 1983) is an Americanprofessional wrestler, retiredmixed martial artist andpodcast host. He is signed to bothNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was the inaugural and longest reigningNJPW Strong Openweight Champion; andMajor League Wrestling (MLW), where he is a former one-timeMLW World Tag Team Champion, one-timeMLW World Heavyweight Champion and the winner of the first-everBattle Riot in2018 and the2020 Opera Cup tournament. He was in theLight Heavyweight division of theUFC.
A wrestler since 2007, he was a cast member ofSpikeTV'sThe Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs. Team Mir.
Lawlor was born inFall River, Massachusetts before moving toSwansea, Massachusetts, and then finally toFort Myers, Florida. He attendedEstero High School in Florida and was on thewrestling team, then continued his wrestling career at theUniversity of Central Florida where he won threeNCWA national championships in the 235 lb weight class in 2003, 2004, 2005 and as a freshman placed third. He beganBrazilian jiu-jitsu in his home town ofFall River. Lawlor had a sister who died in a car accident in 2001. He dedicated hisUFC on Fuel TV 9 win to his late sister.
Lawlor previously lived inProvidence, RI. He, along with TUF alumni and MMA veteranSeth Petruzelli and Brazilian jiu-jitsu Black Belt Mike Lee, was previously a part-owner and coach atThe Jungle MMA – Orlando BJJ, MMA, Muay ThaiThe Jungle MMA and Fitness. He currently trains at Lauzon MMA and works with Team Aggression inBridgewater, Massachusetts.
Lawlor has made himself known by imitating other fighters (Art Jimmerson,Dan Severn,Harold Howard,Genki Sudo, andConor McGregor) during the weigh-ins and octagon entrances. These impersonations, along with his tongue-in-cheek ring entrance routines (paying homage toHulk Hogan andApollo Creed amongst others) have made Lawlor something of acult figure among fans. In 2010, Lawlor announced his intention to tone down his pre-fight antics.[5]
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 ofThe Ultimate Fighter. He submitted Ryan Lopez with arear naked choke in the elimination round to earn his spot in theTUF house. He was chosen byFrank Mir to be a part of Team Mir.
He was selected to fight first againstRyan Bader and despite a good showing, Lawlor lost by knockout in the first round, due to aground and pound punches.
Lawlor won hisUFC debut against formerThe Ultimate Fighter 8 castmateKyle Kingsbury via unanimous decision. They fought on the preliminary card atThe Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale.[6] After the fight with Kingsbury, Lawlor moved down in weight after realizing he was too small forlight heavyweight.[7]
Lawlor had his second fight for the UFC, when he took onC. B. Dollaway atUFC 100. Tom won in an upset, putting Dollaway to sleep with a guillotine choke 55 seconds into the first round and was awardedSubmission of the Night honors.
Lawlor foughtAaron Simpson on January 11, 2010, atUFC 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 inMixed Martial Arts.[8]
Lawlor was scheduled to faceTim Credeur on May 8, 2010, atUFC 113,[9] but Credeur was forced off the card with an injury. Lawlor instead facedJoe Doerksen,[10] losing viasubmission in the second round.
Lawlor earned a much needed victory overPatrick Cote on October 23, 2010, atUFC 121 in a performance that once again displayed Lawlor's superb wrestling and jiu jitsu skills by successfully executing fivetakedowns, threatening withsubmissions (nearly finishing Cote in the first round with anarm-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 faceMaiquel Falcão on August 27, 2011, atUFC 134[11] 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 againstKyle Noke on August 14, 2011, atUFC on Versus 5.[12] However, Lawlor pulled out of the fight in early July 2011.[13]
Lawlor lost toChris Weidman on November 19, 2011, atUFC 139 due to a D'Arce choke in 2:07 of the first round.[14]
Lawlor facedJason MacDonald on May 15, 2012, his birthday, atUFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier.[15] He won the fight via KO in the first round and earnedKnockout of the Night for his efforts.
Lawlor foughtFrancis Carmont on November 17, 2012, atUFC 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 theShockmaster incident. Despite controlling the majority of the fight and threatening with severalsubmissions, he lost the fight via a controversial split decision[16]
Lawlor facedMichael Kuiper on April 6, 2013, atUFC on Fuel TV 9.[17] After losing the first round, he rebounded and won via submission, aguillotine choke, early in the second round. During his post victory speech, Lawlor had dedicated his fight to his late sister; Katie.
Lawlor was expected to faceIlir Latifi in a light heavyweight bout on July 19, 2014, atUFC Fight Night 46.[18] However, Lawlor was forced out of the bout due to injury, and was replaced by promotional newcomer Chris Dempsey.[19][20]
After over two years away from active competition, Lawlor returned to faceGian Villante on July 25, 2015, atUFC on Fox 16.[21] He won the fight via knockout in the second round and also earned aPerformance of the Night bonus.[22][23]
Lawlor was expected to faceFábio Maldonado on November 7, 2015, atUFC Fight Night 77.[24] However, Lawlor was forced out of the bout with injury and replaced byCorey Anderson.[25]
Lawlor facedCorey Anderson on March 5, 2016, atUFC 196.[26] He lost the fight by unanimous decision.[27]
On November 4, 2016, Lawlor was provisionally suspended from the UFC stemming from an out-of-competition drug test conducted byUSADA on October 10, 2016.[28] Lawlor revealed that he failed forOstarine, although he denied knowing the cause of the failure.[29][30] In February 2017, Lawlor was handed a two-year suspension. He became eligible to return to competition in October 2018.[31]
On August 13, 2018, Tom Lawlor was released from UFC, less than two months before his suspension was lifted.[32] At the time of his release, he held a record of 6–5 within the promotion.
On November 24, 2018, Lawlor facedDeron Winn atGolden Boy Promotions's inaugural MMA event.[33] He lost the fight by unanimous decision.[34]
in March 2020, Lawlor signed withProfessional Fighters League and is expected to participate in the PFL season 3 light heavyweight bracket.[35]
Lawlor was set to faceJordan Johnson on April 29, 2021 atPFL 2 as the start of the 2021 PFL Light Heavyweight tournament.[36] However, in March, it was announced that Johnson pulled out and was replaced by promotional newcomerAntônio Carlos Júnior.[37] He lost the bout via guillotine choke in the first round.[38]
Lawlor faced Jordan Young atPFL 5 on June 17, 2021.[39] He won the bout via unanimous decision and then retired by placing his gloves down in the center of the mat after the win.[40]
Before the start of his MMA career, Lawlor worked two years as aprofessional wrestler on the Floridaindependent circuit, even taking part in aWWE tryout.[41]
On May 17, 2014, Lawlor made hisRing of Honor debut accompanyingreDRagon as their manager againstThe Young Bucks in their match for theROH World Tag Team Championship at the ROH andNew Japan Pro-Wrestling co-promoted pay-per-viewWar of the Worlds.[42][43] Lawlor returned to professional wrestling in February 2017, due to his suspension from UFC.[44] On April 15, 2017, Lawlor debuted for Prestige Championship Wrestling competing againstDavey Richards in the shows co-main event. Lawlor would lose the match but would go on to become a regular at Prestige shows. On May 5, 2017, Lawlor was advertised for Canadian promotionAll Star Wrestling for their 7 July 2017 show. On May 26 and 27, Lawlor participated in the AIW JT Lightening Invitational Tournament. Day 1, he was set to face Jimmy Rave but Rave dropped out of the show due to travel issues. Instead, UFC Legend and former NWA World ChampionDan Severn answered Lawlor's challenge. Lawlor pinned Severn to advance. Day 2, Lawlor was in a Fatal Four-Way withTracy Williams, Mike Tolar andDominic Garrini. Williams would win the match and the tournament. He lost toMike Bailey at C4 Fighting Back 7: Wrestling With Cancer in Ottawa, Ontario on August 12, 2017.
Since their 2017 relaunch, Lawlor has competed inMajor League Wrestling (MLW), and appears on their weeklyMLW Fusion television series. Lawlor won the firstBattle Riot in MLW in 2018. He won after eliminatingJake Hager, who he went on to feud with. He followed that up by beatingSami Callihan,Shane Strickland and his former partnerSimon Gotch in singles matches.
On February 2, 2019, Lawlor won theMLW World Heavyweight Championship fromLow Ki at MLW's liveSuperFight event.[45] He would hold the title 154 days, before losing it toJacob Fatu atKings of Colosseum in July 2019.[46] He would also fail to defeat Fatu in a rematch for the title. On November 14, 2019, it was announced Lawlor left the promotion.[47] However, on November 22, 2019 it was announced he had signed a new multi-year exclusive agreement with the company. Lawlor turned heel on the Thanksgiving episode of Fusion by attacking Ross Von Erich with a chair during his world title bout against Jacob Fatu.[48]
AtMLW Slaughterhouse, Lawlor joined forces withMatt Cardona and announced that he had signed with MLW and was part of the World Titan Federation. On February 29, 2024 atIntimidation Games, Lawlor andDavey Boy Smith Jr. defeated The Second Gear Crew (Matthew Justice and 1 Called Manders) to win theMLW World Tag Team Championship.[49] However, they vacated the titles two months later.[50]
On the July 12, 2020 episode ofLion's Break Collision, Lawlor made hisNew Japan Pro-Wrestling debut, defeatingRocky Romero.[51] Lawlor immediately aligned himself withJ. R. Kratos andTaylor Rust, forming the NJPW version ofTeam Filthy.[52] The group later added theWest Coast Wrecking Crew (Jorel Nelson andRoyce Isaacs) andDanny Limelight. After a loss againstJeff Cobb, Lawlor kicked Rust out of Team Filthy, replacing him withChris Dickinson. However, Dickinson later aligned himself withBrody King at theROH 19th Anniversary Show, causing tension amongst Team Filthy. Dickinson refused to commit to Team Filthy's violent actions on the following weeks episodes ofNJPW Strong, further straining the groups relationship with Dickinson. In April 2021, Lawlor competed in theNew Japan Cup USA tournament to crown the first everNJPW Strong Openweight Champion. He defeated the DKC in a qualifying match,Ren Narita in the first round,Hikuleo in the semi-finals, andBrody King in the finals to win the New Japan Cup USA and become the first ever NJPW Strong Openweight Champion.[53] Team Filthy and Dickinson's relationship finally ended when Dickinson challenged Lawlor for the title as his first challenger, causing Lawlor and Team Filthy to attack Dickinson, removing him from the faction.[54]
In May 2021, Lawlor defeated Dickinson to retain his Strong Openweight Championship atCollision.[55] Lawlor retained againstKarl Fredericks atIgnition.[56] Lawlor continued to retain the title against challengers such asSatoshi Kojima,Lio Rush andRen Narita.[57][58][59] AtDetonation, Lawlor defeatedFred Rosser.[60] He made further title defences against Taylor Rust[61] andClark Connors[62] before losing the title to Rosser atCollision, in a match where if Rosser lost he'd have to leave NJPW Strong, ending Lawlor's reign at 397 days.[63]
AtDominion 6.12 in Osaka-jo Hall, Lawlor was announced to be a participant in theG1 Climax 32 tournament as a part of the A Block, making his tournament debut and his NJPW debut in Japan.[64] Lawlor ended his campaign with 6 points, failing to advance to the semi-finals.[65]
For the rest of 2022, Lawlor entered a feud withHomicide that culminated in aFilthy Rules Fight victory atBattle in the Valley in 2023. Despite being a fixture for the revamped and streamlined NJPW Strong shows, Lawlor would fail to capture theNJPW World Television Championship fromZack Sabre Jr. atCapital Collision. Lawlor would return to Japan as he and most of Team Filthy participated at theNJPW Independence Day shows atKorakuen Hall. His victory overKosei Fujita during Independence Day's first show was the last victory Lawlor had for New Japan in 2023. He would lose toHiroshi Tanahashi,Tomohiro Ishii, and The DKC during Independence Day's second show (with the West Coast Wrecking Crew),Gabe Kidd duringFighting Spirit Unleashed, and Fred Rosser duringLonestar Shootout.
On the June 23, 2023 edition ofAEW Rampage, Lawlor made his All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut, alongside stablemate Royce Isaacs, by attackingAdam Cole after it was announced byAEW World ChampionMJF that Cole and Lawlor would have a match atForbidden Door.[66] However, Cole was pulled from the match due to an illness and Lawlor facedSerpentico in adark match at the event instead.[67]
In May 2015,Figure Four Online launched theFilthy Tom Lawlor Show (later renamedFilthy Four Daily), a weeklypodcast featuring Lawlor discussing MMA and professional wrestling with hostBryan Alvarez.[68][69] In September 2016, it was announced he would be making monthly appearances onThe Bryan and Vinny Show to discussSmackDown Live pay-per-views.[70] He has also made appearances onWrestling Observer Radio.[71]
He is the co-host of the FRB Show with Front Row Brian.
Lawlor currently resides inLas Vegas, NV.[72]
| 20 matches | 11 wins | 8 losses |
| By knockout | 4 | 0 |
| By submission | 4 | 3 |
| By decision | 3 | 4 |
| By disqualification | 0 | 1 |
| No contests | 1 | |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 11–8 (1) | Jordan Young | Decision (unanimous) | PFL 5 (2021) | June 17, 2021 | 3 | 5:00 | Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States | |
| Loss | 10–8 (1) | Antônio Carlos Júnior | Submission (guillotine choke) | PFL 2 (2021) | April 29, 2021 | 1 | 4:43 | Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States | |
| Loss | 10–7 (1) | Deron Winn | Decision (unanimous) | Golden Boy Promotions: Liddell vs. Ortiz 3 | November 24, 2018 | 3 | 5:00 | Inglewood, California, United States | |
| Loss | 10–6 (1) | Corey Anderson | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 196 | March 5, 2016 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 10–5 (1) | Gian Villante | TKO (punch) | UFC on Fox: Dillashaw vs. Barão 2 | July 25, 2015 | 2 | 0:27 | Chicago, Illinois, United States | Return to Light Heavyweight. Performance of the Night. |
| Win | 9–5 (1) | Michael Kuiper | Submission (guillotine choke) | UFC on Fuel TV: Mousasi vs. Latifi | April 6, 2013 | 2 | 1:05 | Stockholm, Sweden | |
| Loss | 8–5 (1) | Francis Carmont | Decision (split) | UFC 154 | November 17, 2012 | 3 | 5:00 | Montreal,Quebec, Canada | |
| Win | 8–4 (1) | Jason MacDonald | KO (punches) | UFC on Fuel TV: The Korean Zombie vs. Poirier | May 15, 2012 | 1 | 0:50 | Fairfax, Virginia, United States | Knockout of the Night. |
| Loss | 7–4 (1) | Chris Weidman | Technical Submission (brabo choke) | UFC 139 | November 19, 2011 | 1 | 2:07 | San Jose, California, United States | |
| Win | 7–3 (1) | Patrick Côté | Decision (unanimous) | UFC 121 | October 23, 2010 | 3 | 5:00 | Anaheim, California, United States | |
| Loss | 6–3 (1) | Joe Doerksen | Submission (rear-naked choke) | UFC 113 | May 8, 2010 | 2 | 2:10 | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | |
| Loss | 6–2 (1) | Aaron Simpson | Decision (split) | UFC Fight Night: Maynard vs. Diaz | January 11, 2010 | 3 | 5:00 | Fairfax, Virginia, United States | Fight of the Night. |
| Win | 6–1 (1) | C. B. Dollaway | Technical Submission (guillotine choke) | UFC 100 | July 11, 2009 | 1 | 0:55 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Middleweight debut. Submission of the Night. |
| Win | 5–1 (1) | Kyle Kingsbury | Decision (unanimous) | The Ultimate Fighter: Team Nogueira vs Team Mir Finale | December 13, 2008 | 3 | 5:00 | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | |
| Win | 4–1 (1) | Travis Bartlett | Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) | Full Force 20 | April 12, 2008 | 1 | 1:10 | Foxborough, Massachusetts, United States | |
| Loss | 3–1 (1) | Shane Primm | DQ (illegal knee to the head) | World Fighting Championships 6 | March 22, 2008 | 1 | 0:24 | Tampa, Florida, United States | |
| Win | 3–0 (1) | Cesar Barros | KO (punches) | Full Force 15 | August 25, 2007 | 1 | 0:10 | Mansfield, Massachusetts, United States | |
| Win | 2–0 (1) | Jason Barlog | TKO (punches) | WFC 3 | April 7, 2007 | 1 | 3:59 | Tampa, Florida, United States | |
| Win | 1–0 (1) | Jonathan Fernandez | Submission (rear naked choke) | X-treme Fighting Championships | April 3, 2007 | 1 | 1:20 | Tampa, Florida, United States | |
| NC | 0–0 (1) | Ariel Gandulla | No Contest | Kick Enterprises | March 10, 2007 | 1 | N/A | Fort Myers, Florida, United States | Fighters fell through cage door. |
| 1 match | 1 win | 0 losses |
| By knockout | 1 | 0 |
| By submission | 0 | 0 |
| By decision | 0 | 0 |
| Res. | Record | Opponent | Method | Event | Date | Round | Time | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | 1–0 | Rich Mitchell | KO (punches) | XF: Xtreme Fighting 5 | July 26, 2003 | 1 | 0:54 | Fall River, Massachusetts, United States |
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