After three years of training with American Top Team (ATT), former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title holder Robbie Lawler left the camp. Lawler hasn’t revealed which team he will be training with going forward.
Assistant coach at ATT Din Thomas appeared on “The Main Event Zone” (via Flo Combat) to discuss Lawler’s departure. He said the former champion most likely made the right call for himself:
“If it’s a coaching issue where you’re not getting the proper coaching that you need, then you need to find better coaches. If you don’t have the proper sparring partners that you need, then you need to go find the right sparring partners. For whatever reason, Robbie felt that he had to leave. I’m sure he thought about it, and I’m sure it was probably the best decision for him.”
While Lawler may have left ATT, Thomas feels he will still be “Ruthless.”
“Like I said, I don’t know what his reasoning was, but I wish him all the best and I got nothing but love for him. He’s a true champion, he’s a great fighter and he’s a pioneer. I’m sure he will land on his feet wherever he lands, and I’m sure he will continue to crack skulls open.”
There are many times where fighters have left gyms on bad terms. That doesn’t appear to be the case here as Thomas has been respectful of Lawler’s decision. Having said that, the assistant coach also believes ATT will remain as an elite team regardless of who comes and goes.
“The mood is good–it doesn’t matter who’s in. That’s the one thing about the dynamic of American Top Team, because we are such a big team, with or without Robbie we are still going to be the best team in the world.”
