Tom Lawlor doesn’t need to search far for extra motivation going into his next fight with Patrick Cote at UFC 121 in October.
Every time he looks at his phone he’s motivated.
Anytime he goes to make a call or send a text he sees an image of himself beat up from his last loss against Joe Doerksen at UFC 113. The second-round submission came after Lawlor dominated and nearly finished his opponent in the first.
It was similar to the 27-year-old’s previous fight, a split decision loss to Aaron Simpson, where he hurt his opponent badly in the first round.
The Swansea native and current Florida resident has shown he can hang in there with the middleweights of the UFC but finds his back up against the wall heading into October’s matchup with Cote, a former No.1 contender.
“This one’s kind of do or die, I’m not even looking at it as him being a bigger fight,” Lawlor said. “People always say a battle against themselves, `I’m not fighting against an opponent, I’m fighting against my own inner demons,’ and everything else like that but this is a situation as a fighter for the first time I feel like that. It is more of a battle of me against myself and going out there showing I can do it, and basically not screw it up or give it away like I did my last two fights.”
Lawlor arrived in Boston for the week of UFC 118 and the UFC Fan Expo. He’s since enjoyed training at some of the area’s best gyms - Lauzon’s MMA in Bridgewater, Tim Burril’s in Providence - and he even worked out with Shawn Tompkins at Boston’s TapOut Gym.
Known for having some of the best weigh-in routines and UFC walkouts, this middleweight joker is still in good spirits.
“If anyone wants to know why I’m up here, I’m `getting into’ my opponents from now on. I’ve been eating Tim Horton’s every morning and started to pop my collar,” Lawlor said. “Joe Lauzon has also been wearing a kangol and holding mitts for me.”
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