When you become a champion of a major organization, you usually stay there. That is, however, unless a bigger, better opportunity comes calling.
That’s what happened to RFA featherweight champion Justin Lawrence.
If you know anything about the RFA organization, it is the unofficial feeder organization to the UFC. Just look at what it sent there recently. It sent its heavyweight, middleweight and lightweight champions pretty quickly to the UFC in Josh Copeland, Jake Collier and Christos Giagos, respectively.
For Lawrence, the opportunity to rejoin the UFC was there. It was just a more lucrative, enticing offer came his way.
“Bellator came calling right after my last fight with RFA,” Lawrence explained in an exclusive interview with Bleacher Report. “They basically gave me an offer I couldn’t refuse and blew the deal the UFC gave me out of the water.”
That deal got him a spot on this weekend’s Bellator 138, which is headlined by Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock. It wasn’t a main card bout, but it was a start with an organization that gave him a better deal than the UFC.
“There were two big selling points that were also big motivators. Bellator offered me a fight in my home state, which I really wanted. The other thing that scared me off from UFC was the Reebok deal. I don’t think it’s good for the fighters, and it made choosing Bellator that much easier.”
If you remember, Lawrence was a young gun when he became a member of the UFC roster. He was talented, but inexperienced. It showed in his fights before he was eventually released and sent back to the drawing board.
That’s when he hooked up with RFA, where many of his Black House comrades compete. There, he went undefeated en route to a championship win over Mark Dickman. He then defended that title in his most recent bout against Sam Toomer. He also made a big move in recent times that helped him grow.
“My last fight with Sam Toomer kind of showed how I have grown as a fighter since my time in the UFC,” Lawrence admitted. “When I was in the UFC, I was still young and was not sure how to properly train as a pro athlete. I started working with Alliance MMA, I hired a sports psychologist to help me figure that out and things have worked out well for me since.”
With RFA in the rearview mirror for now, Lawrence looks to the future with Bellator. As mentioned, he makes his debut this weekend against Sean Wilson on the prelims, a good place for him to start right now.
“I want to make it to the main card of Bellator. I think for that to happen, I completely have to dominate my opponent, Sean Wilson,” Lawrence asserted. “If I do that and win impressively enough, I think I can get a fight against a top contender and move toward the title picture.”
“Wilson is dangerous, don’t just judge him based on his record,” Lawrence explained. “He has a lot of power in both of his hands, and he likes to throw them. I need to approach this fight with caution and know he can knock anybody out with one of those power punches at any time.”
Not to look past Wilson, but Lawrence has big plans for himself in Bellator. Between guys like Patricio Freire, Daniel Weichel, Daniel Straus and Pat Curran, the featherweight division is a shark tank he would gladly swim in.
“I just want to jump into title contention. Bellator‘s featherweight division is loaded with talent and I look forward to testing myself against the top guys.”
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