Filed under: Strikeforce
Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal returned to the Strikeforce cage with a spectacular victory on Saturday night, winning a first-round knockout of Roger Gracie.
King Mo is an excellent wrestler, and Gracie is arguably the best Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioner in the world, but this fight wasn’t fought on the ground at all. Instead, it was just a stand-up battle between two guys who were a little out of their elements. But after four and a half minutes without a lot of damage being done by either man, Lawal did what he had to do, landing a hard overhand right to Gracie’s ear and knocking him to the canvas. With one more punch on the ground, Lawal knocked Gracie out.
“The fight felt good,” Lawal said afterward. “I’m a fighter, man, I come here to fight.”
The victory improved Lawal’s professional record to 8-1, and showed that he’s back from a knee injury that has kept him out of the cage for more than a year. It’s good to see King Mo back in action, and Lawal said he’d like another shot at Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante, who beat him in his last fight.
For Gracie, who falls to 4-1, it’s hard to see what happens from here. Gracie is a great grappler, but his stand-up skills are still rudimentary, and after that vicious knockout, he may be better suited to staying in grappling, where you can’t get punched in the face.
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