The guy’s a goof but it’s time middleweights start taking Tom Lawlor seriously. "Filthy" Tom took apart Aaron Simpson in the first round but it wasn’t enough to convince the judges who gave the former Arizona State wrestler the split decision win 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28. Cagewriter had it 29-28 for Lawlor while Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole scored it 28-28 with Lawlor grabbing a 10-8 round in the first.
"Obviously,I’ve got a lot more I need to get better at," said the 35-year-old Simpson. "I think get rocked early, I think having that wrestling background. I mean I wrestled over 1,000 matches in my lfe."
Lawlor, the reigning king of quirky ring entrances, walked to cage using Hulk Hogan’s music, "I am a Real American" and sported a lovely boa. Once in the cage, he used a counter right to destroy Simpson in the opening stanza. Simpson was lazy with his jab, leaving it out there for too long. Lawlor got him with counter rights throughout the first and second round. It was clear that Simpson couldn’t see the punch coming over the top.
"i’ve sparred soiuthpaws in the past but it was alittle different for me," said Simpson. "It’s one of those difficult things for you."
Lawlor’s pace slowed in the second but he still landed the more significant shots.
Simpson (7-0, 3-0 UFC) did a good job of coming back from the brink in the final round by landing a couple of takedowns. The crowd booed loudly after the decision was announced, then it wwas scolded by UFC color analyst Joe Rogan in the Octagon.