Filthy Tom Lawlor Comments On Possibly Signing With WWE, Returning To UFC, MLW One Shot, Jeff Cobb
We head back into MLW territory and promote the upcoming MLW: One Shot event on October 5th in Orlando, Florida as we welcome UFC Star, "Filthy" Tom Lawlor. No stranger to any kind of combat sports competition, "Filthy Tom" is mastering his way through the wrestling world one promotion at a time and brings his explosive and hard-hitting arsenal to MLW to battle "Mr. Athletic" Jeff Cobb in one of the most anticipated matches of 2017 thus far. Lawlor takes Chad and John Poz through his UFC career thus far and discusses big fights, tough battles and what the future holds for "third brother of destruction". The full episode can be downloaded at this link.
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Facing Jeff Cobb at MLW's One Shot:
"Jeff Cobb is a fight that I've been looking forward to since I returned to the professional wrestling squared circle. He's a guy that I've enjoyed watching and has been making a name for himself not only in the US and the Independent scene but throughout the world as a top notch talent. He comes from an amateur wrestling background and is a former Olympian and has the same aura of legitimacy that I do and think it was a natural matchup and I am glad it is happening in MLW."
How does he prepare for someone as skilled as Jeff Cobb:
"Someone like Jeff Cobb I know I am not going to be able to work the power moves that I usually do because of his size. Like some of the elaborate throws that I pull off with the smaller guys I will have to shy away from. I've been doing a lot of work on my submission game and doing a lot of movement training and so I can be quick on my feet and so I can evade him. He's a hell of an athlete when it comes to technical (maybe not takedowns) but the mat wrestling once we are down there will hopefully be in my favor. You don't want to get too far away from your best options and your best offense in a match so I am working my submission game and you will see that when I tap Jeff Cobb out.'
The way the rest of the card is shaping up:
"There is going to be something for everybody. Jeff and I are going to go out there and beat the ever-living snot out of each other and I'm sure you are going to see some great high flying in some of the other matches. It will be a nice variety of different styles and will showcase what wrestling is all about."
Returning to pro wrestling:
"This is something that I've looked forward to do in being able to get back into the ring and luckily I am able to get back in there and I feel like I am living in a fantasy camp. I always think I am really here in this show and am I really wrestling (for instance) Kyle O' Reilly or really wrestling Eddie Kingston right now so it has been really awesome for me.
Does he prefer working in the pro wrestling style or the MMA style:
"Either way honestly, I had a match against Mike Bailey who is a much larger guy but he does a lot of high flying and I had a blast doing that. It honestly doesn't really matter to me but one of the biggest challenges to me is trying to fit my style with somebody else's to a certain extent. To go work against a guy like Matt Riddle or a Dan Severn and somebody with that same style it is not too tough to plan out. When you have to work a high flyer and you are trying to do your submission game you have to work all that stuff in together so that is kind of the big challenge but it also keeps me motivated as well."
"Some crowds know what they are getting into and some crowds are there just to see professional wrestling. I have to read the crowd a little bit and see what I can get away with and as far as the submission game and that kind of style and I adjust from there. Some places love it and some places hate it."
Does he have plans to return to UFC when his suspension is over:
"Honestly I don't know. My weight has kind of stabilized and now that I am a little bit older, I may be able to cut down to 85 again and I am going to have to kind of take a look at the landscape in a year. Maybe I won't even be wanting to go back to the UFC. Maybe I will have opportunities in wrestling that will keep me there which I am hopefully looking forward to that happening."
Is WWE in his future:
"The schedule is not really appealing. In the long run when you factor in the money and the costs associated with traveling all year. I am at a point in my life where I can make some money doing multiple things and I can teach mixed martial arts and I can teach jiu jitsu and I can be involved with stuff like that and also fight and wrestle at the same time and be involved with all those other things. I don't need to be on the road all year and I don't desire that lifestyle so I am kind of happy essentially with being in the Independent scene but like I said I am not happy with where I am at right now (work wise)."
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