Lawal stops Larkin in the second round (Photos by Esther Lin/Forza LLC/Getty Images via Forza LLC)
For many this past week the announcement by the Nevada State Athletic Commission that former Strikeforce light heavyweight champ Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal (8-1, 1NC) had tested positive for a banned steroid came as quite the shock, including to Lawal himself.
Since then, ‘King Mo’ and his manager Mike Kogan, have been talking to the media expressing their shock at the finding and have busily been working behind the scenes to clear Lawal’s name.
Both men recently spoke to ESPN.com about the positive test for Drostanolone and their efforts to get to the bottom of why it happened.
In the interview with Josh Gross, Lawal discusses the exact types of supplements he took before his Jan. 7 bout versus Lorenz Larkins, so if your a chemist maybe you can help the former champ out by checking out the full list by hitting the link above.
Josh Gross: Just to start off the top, you’re saying you didn’t take any anabolic steroid — is that right?
Muhammed Lawal: Yeah, I didn’t take any anabolic steroids, man. That’s not my way of doing things. My track record shows. I came from college to the Olympic and world competition. I was drug tested then and up until now, you know what I’m saying. This is the first time anything like this has happened in my life. I’m shocked just like everybody around me is.
Gross: So, you’ve never taken anything is what you’re saying. In your entire sporting career, you’ve never taken anything that would have put up a result like this?
Lawal: Never, never. I don’t need to. I’m all about competition, game planning and training hard. I’ve gotten to where I’ve gotten to through hard work, smart training and coaching. No type of performance enhancements.
Gross: You’re addressing your situation in the media. What do you hope to accomplish by addressing publicly like this? Also, steroid use is an issue in mixed martial arts. Are you concerned about being labeled a steroid user, perhaps a cheater, and what effect that may have on your career?
Lawal: That’s always the issue. I don’t want to be labeled as that, but you have people that don’t like me that will say that regardless. In the public eye, you’re always guilty before innocent. All I got to do is worry about the people that have been there for me since day one, my family and my friends. I want to prove my innocence to those people first and foremost. I’ve been a clean athlete. I’m still a clean athlete. I don’t know what happened here but we’ll get to the bottom of this. I’m kind of in disbelief. I’m having a hard time eating and sleeping because of all of this. I’m just hoping the sooner we can get the ball moving, we can get my name cleared.