AEW's Bryan Danielson Challenged To MMA Fight

'Filthy' Tom Lawlor responds to Bryan's comments about wanting one last legitimate fight.

by Andrew Pollard
Tom Lawlor Bryan Danielson
NJPW/AEW

As Bryan Danielson continues to check off bucket-list items as he winds down his full-time in-ring career, could the American Dragon be set for an MMA fight? Possibly...

During a recent appearance on The Hull Show, Danielson said he'd be "a little bit sad" if he didn't get into at least one more legitimate fight before he dies. The Blackpool Combat Club man noted how the "physicality" of "legitimate beef" is "fun" and part of who we are as humans.

These comments have caught the attention of one 'Filthy' Tom Lawlor, who took to X to challenge Bryan Danielson to an MMA fight. As of this writing, Bryan has yet to respond.

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Lawlor is quite the interesting figure, having an extensive MMA background in addition to his career as a pro wrestler. That MMA background has Filthy Tom with an 11-8-1 record, with him having spent eight years competing in the UFC's light heavyweight and middleweight divisions. Where it comes to the squared circle, the 41-year-old can these days be found competing for, amongst others, NJPW and MLW, with Lawlor the inaugural NJPW Strong Openweight Champion and a former MLW World Champion.

Could we see Bryan Danielson vs. Tom Lawlor in a shoot MMA fight? That remains to be seen. Whether a shoot or not, though, Lawlor's New Japan ties obviously open him up as a potential Danielson opponent at this year's Forbidden Door, but that's merely speculation on your writer's behalf. It's also worth noting that Lawlor has technically wrestled for AEW before, defeating Serpentico on the Zero Hour pre-show for last year's Forbidden Door - a PPV where Tom Lawlor was originally supposed to face Adam Cole before Cole was pulled on the day of the show due to illness.

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Senior Writer
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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.