https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHLlGnPCI00
Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipovic was successful in his Rizin FF Openweight tournament second round fight against King Mo Lawal, finishing the American fighter in the second round with a flurry of ground strikes. The bout was the headliner of Rizin FF 3’s second round event, held December 29 in Saitama, Japan.
Lawal, a replacement for Wanderlei Silva, who pulled out of the fight with less than a month to go, found the takedown early, but was unable to finish the dangerous striker. From that point, Cro-Cop seemed to shore up his takedown defense while softening Lawal up with kicks prior to the end of the first. The second round saw Cro-Cop catch King Mo along the ropes, dropping him to the canvass before finishing him with some powerful ground strikes.
The win makes it five straight victories for Cro-Cop (33–11–2 (1)), while Mo (20–6 (1)) loses just weeks removed from his December 16 victory over Satoshi Ishii in Bellator. Cro-Cop now advances to take on Baruto Kaito in the semi-finals of the tournament. The other bracket will see Iranian wrestler Amir Aliakbari, who picked up a win over Heath Herring earlier in the night, face Russia’s Valentin Moldavsky.
Full results from the event are below:
Mirko Filipovi? def. United States Muhammed Lawal by KO (Punch), Round 2, 6:41
Baruto Kaito def. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka by unanimous decision
Amir Aliakbari def. Heath Herring by unanimous decision
Valentin Moldavsky def. Szymon Bajor by unanimous decision
Rin Nakai def. Kanako Murata by submission (Rear Naked Choke), Round 3, 11:16
Tenshin Nasukawa def. Nikita Sapun by TKO (Punches), Round 1,2:45
Kazuyuki Miyata def. Andy Souwer by submission (Armbar), Round 1, 4:39
Yuki Motoya def. Allan Nascimento by split decision
Tatsumitsu Wada def. Kai Kara France by unanimous decision
Yusuke Yachi def. Mario Sismundo by TKO, Round 1, 0:18
Alyssa Garcia def. Kanna Asakura by unanimous decision
Vadim Nemkov def. Alison Vicente by TKO (Punches) Round 1, 0:54
Satoru Kitaoka def. Daron Cruickshank by submission (Guillotine Choke), Round 1, 8:18