Quick hypothetical: You’re the #2 MMA promotion in the world, desperately trying to separate your brand from the #1 promotion while simultaneously trying to draw in their audience. So you sign a relatively big name to this pro-wrestling double deal thingamajig and what does he do? Get knocked the fudge out by a relative unknown. Thankfully, you manage to shoehorn him back into your LHW tournament and he scores a couple solid victories, but how do expedite him into the title picture ASAP? YOU REMATCH HIM WITH THE NO-NAMER FOR AN INTERIM TITLE, THAT’S HOW.
Clearly, the folks over at Bellator follow this line of reasoning, as they have recently booked Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and Emanuel Newton in an interim-title rematch set for their November 2nd pay-per-view extravaganza (which the UFC doesn’t even plan on counter-programming, BTW). It also appears that King Mo has learned his lesson about arrogantly shit-talking his opponent this time around, recently complimenting Newton for being “as hard as baby s–t.” So by the associative property, I guess that makes Mo a calf’s nut sack, then?
While some of you naysayers out there will surely argue that this matchup is a steaming crock of bullshit stew, citing such “facts” as “Emanuel Newton already won the LHW tournament *and* beat King Mo, so why isn’t he fighting for the title?” you should first know that 1) LHW champ Attila Vegh is injured and 2) well, that’s pretty much it.
Featuring a lightweight title rematch between Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler as well as a headlining bout between whatever is left of Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson, Bellator: Reruns and Rematches goes down from the Long Beach Arena on November 2nd. Anyone see Newton capturing lightning in a bottle again?
Quick hypothetical: You’re the #2 MMA promotion in the world, desperately trying to separate your brand from the #1 promotion while simultaneously trying to draw in their audience. So you sign a relatively big name to this pro-wrestling double deal thingamajig and what does he do? Get knocked the fudge out by a relative unknown. Thankfully, you manage to shoehorn him back into your LHW tournament and he scores a couple solid victories, but how do expedite him into the title picture ASAP? YOU REMATCH HIM WITH THE NO-NAMER FOR AN INTERIM TITLE, THAT’S HOW.
Clearly, the folks over at Bellator follow this line of reasoning, as they have recently booked Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and Emanuel Newton in an interim-title rematch set for their November 2nd pay-per-view extravaganza (which the UFC doesn’t even plan on counter-programming, BTW). It also appears that King Mo has learned his lesson about arrogantly shit-talking his opponent this time around, recently complimenting Newton for being “as hard as baby s–t.” So by the associative property, I guess that makes Mo a calf’s nut sack, then?
While some of you naysayers out there will surely argue that this matchup is a steaming crock of bullshit stew, citing such “facts” as “Emanuel Newton already won the LHW tournament *and* beat King Mo, so why isn’t he fighting for the title?” you should first know that 1) LHW champ Attila Vegh is injured and 2) well, that’s pretty much it.
Featuring a lightweight title rematch between Eddie Alvarez and Michael Chandler as well as a headlining bout between whatever is left of Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson, Bellator: Reruns and Rematches goes down from the Long Beach Arena on November 2nd. Anyone see Newton capturing lightning in a bottle again?
It took a bit longer than initially expected, but Muhammed Lawal is now one win away from becoming the Bellator MMA light heavyweight champion.
At Bellator 97 on Wednesday, “King Mo” steamrolled Jacob Noe with ground-and-pound to win a four-man light h…
It took a bit longer than initially expected, but MuhammedLawal is now one win away from becoming the BellatorMMA light heavyweight champion.
At Bellator 97 on Wednesday, “King Mo” steamrolled Jacob Noe with ground-and-pound to win a four-man light heavyweight tournament that took place over the Bellator MMA Summer Series. Lawal took Noe down with ease over three rounds before eventually stopping his bloodied opponent with a few unanswered blows at 2:51 of the final stanza.
After beating Noe, Lawal is now second in line for a 205-pound title shot behind Emanuel Newton. Many expected Lawal to be lined up for a championship bout months ago, but he was stunned by a Newton spinning backfist in February.
The current Bellator MMA light heavyweight titleholder is Attila Vegh, who has already defeated Newton via split decision. While a rematch between the two should now be expected, no date has been set for the matchup.
Not wanting to wait too long to wear an official MMA crown, King Mo stated his willingness to rematch Newton during the Bellator 97 telecast on Spike TV.
Should Lawal have to sit on the sidelines and await the winner of Vegh vs. Newton, he does have other options. The 32-year-old has a deal with another Spike TV property, TNA Impact Wrestling. While his appearances with the organization have been few and far between thus far, Lawal may now have a chance to focus on his pro wrestling career in between MMA training camps.
Sean Smith is a Featured MMA Columnist for Bleacher Report who has also had work promoted on UFC.com and TheMMACorner.com.
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal is one of a kind.
The former wrestling standout from Oklahoma State has parlayed his athletic prowess from his days as a Division I All-American athlete into quickly becoming one of the top light heavyweight fighters competing …
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal is one of a kind.
The former wrestling standout from Oklahoma State has parlayed his athletic prowess from his days as a Division I All-American athlete into quickly becoming one of the top light heavyweight fighters competing in mixed martial arts.
While the former Strikeforce champion’s ascension into the forefront of MMA has been based largely on his performance inside the cage, the 32-year-old Tennessee-born fighter comes equipped with additional weapons in his arsenal which have served to position him as a fixture in the spotlight.
Where other fighters are quick to avoid the public speaking realm, Lawal’s natural charisma, cerebral fight analysis and sharp sense of humor have made him a go-to interview in the unpredictable environment of the MMA media game.
When Lawal’s impressive track record and knack for no-nonsense delivery are combined, it’s easy to see why Bellator has their sights set on Lawal becoming one of their flagship superstars in the promotion’s new era with Spike TV.
While Bellator, TNA and Spike TV can have their hopes for Lawal set high, he fully understands the work is his to get done, and that is exactly what he intends to do when he squares off with Jacob Noe in the light heavyweight tournament finals on July 31 in New Mexico.
The two finalist will trade leather in the promotion’s Summer Series tournament to determine who will earn the next opportunity to fight for the 205-pound strap. In the lead-up to the bout, friction between the two men has surfaced, but Lawal isn’t focused on the talk, rather he’s locked his sights on handling business when the cage door closes.
“[Noe] is just another guy in my way before I get that gold,” Lawal told Bleacher Report. “I’m not worried about this dude, man. He likes to run his mouth a lot and down play things. He talked about Babalu and saying he was overrated and this and that. I’m not worried about this dude at all. He thinks he’s above all, and I’m going to beat him down to reality by whooping his ass.”
As Lawal’s profile continues to grow under the Bellator banner and his march toward the 205-pound title progresses, his star power will only become more amplified as the promotion grows. Where Bellator has a collection of notable and established champions, the Los Angeles-based organization has made strong strides to sign additional high-profile fighters to their growing roster.
While an influx of top-notch talent is crucial to keep the action lively in the upper tiers of the divisional pictures, the pressure of being one of the Bellator’s biggest stars isn’t an issue which keeps him up at night. Lawal’s only concern is performing to the best of his abilities, reaching the expectations he has set for himself, and the rest will all take care of itself.
“I don’t worry about that,” Lawal said when asked about being a central point of focus for the promotion. “I just go out there, do what I do, and just fight. I’m not worried about anything else except what is in front of me. I don’t worry about it because it will happen.
“Why should I worry about what the company is going to do? I just need to focus on the fight that is in front of me. It’s up to Bellator to sign people. I’m not going to go out there and recruit for them. They will do it themselves by putting on good fights, being on Spike TV, and making people want to come to the organization.
They got me, Rampage [Jackson], Bubba Jenkins just signed, Ben Askren and Michael Chandler are here. We got people that are coming and eventually people are going to respect Bellator more and more.
“Some people are all about brands, but, eventually, people are going to realize that fighting is fighting. Just because you fight in one organization doesn’t mean you are better than the next organization. Anybody can get beat fighting anywhere. It happens all the time.”
While Lawal has been on the radar as one of the most talented light heavyweight fighters in the game for the past few years, it’s easy to forget he’s relatively young into his time as a professional mixed martial artist.
In less than five years time and a total of 13 fights, the Las Vegas transplant has risen up the ranks to earn a title in the now-defunct Strikeforce promotion and is steadily moving closer to a championship with his present home in Bellator.
The journey certainly hasn’t come without its share of setbacks as a series of injuries, a year-long suspension and a career-threatening staph infection threatened not only Lawal’s future as a fighter, but it put his well being in jeopardy in the process.
Nevertheless, throughout it all, the Jeff Mayweather-trained fighter has remained diligent to the path he has chosen and has battled his way back to the forefront of Bellator’s light heavyweight race.
“The fact that I bounced back from a possibly career-ending infection was big for me,” Lawal said. “People don’t realize, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to fight again. I lost 30 pounds and could barely walk. I was on crutches for about three-and-a-half to four months.
I had so many surgeries, and I was just weak. I’m lucky to be training. I’m lucky to be fighting again. I didn’t think I could come back so soon, but luckily, I had the right people around me, and I had some will power to keep on going.”
For Lawal, the ability to regain his physical talents have come as the result of time invested inside the gym. While he may still be trying to reach previous levels of performance in some areas of his game, the one aspect that has returned in devastating fashion is his power.
In two out of his three most recent showings, Lawal has earned brutal first-round knockout victories with his most recent coming in a one-shot salting of veteran Seth Petruzelli at Bellator 96 back in June. The fashion in which Lawal slept “The Silver Back” evoked memories of his knockout victory over Roger Gracie back in September 2011, during his time competing under the Strikeforce banner.
Following his victory over Gracie in Cincinnati, Lawal explained in a post-fight interview how his trainer, Jeff Mayweather, had taught him a special punch that has the ability to end any fight in quick fashion.
“I learned the Doom punch from Jeff Mayweather,” Lawal said. “The punch I landed on Petruzelli was definitely the Doom punch right there. The Doom punch ends everything.”
With the “Doom” punch intact and his focus locked on earning a shot at the light heavyweight title, Lawal now prepares to take another step closer to the crown. In order to accomplish this task, he will have to get past Noe next Wednesday night in New Mexico, and it is a challenge Lawal is confident he will achieve.
“I’m going to get my hand raised,” he added. “I’ve been training hard, training smart and I’m going to go out there and beat this kid up.”
Duane Finley is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
Everybody loves an underdog, and in the first half of 2013, MMA fans were treated to a handful of upsets.
From Chris Weidman’s improbable knockout against UFC legend Anderson Silva, to King Mo Lawal’s incredible loss to Emanuel Newton at Bellator 90, t…
Everybody loves an underdog, and in the first half of 2013, MMA fans were treated to a handful of upsets.
From Chris Weidman’s improbable knockout against UFC legend Anderson Silva, to King Mo Lawal’s incredible loss to Emanuel Newton at Bellator 90, there were plenty of fights to leave spectators with their jaws dropped.
The biggest upsets—the ones that made this list—have been determined by a number of factors. The most basic way to determine an upset is the betting line for a fight. However, instances such as Weidman’s win over Silva, though not a huge upset in terms of odds, was a major upset nevertheless—Silva hadn’t lost prior to UFC 162 in the promotion.
Have a look at the biggest upsets from the first half of 2013.
*While UFC 162 technically took place in the 2nd half of the year, the event has been included in our mid-year awards because it’s on everybody’s mind.
Bellator debuted its summer series of fights on Wednesday night, capped off by “King” Mo Lawal’s knockout over Seth Petruzelli before the new reality show Fight Master: Bellator MMA also kicked off on Spike TV. This was the first night Bellator moved f…
Bellator debuted its summer series of fights on Wednesday night, capped off by “King” Mo Lawal’s knockout over Seth Petruzelli before the new reality show Fight Master: BellatorMMA also kicked off on Spike TV.
This was the first night Bellator moved from Thursdays to Wednesdays since debuting on the cable network earlier this year.
On Thursday, the ratings for the live show and the reality show were released, and the numbers dipped dramatically from previous airings during the first half of 2013.
According to the ratings released by the Nielsen ratings system and confirmed by Spike TV officials when speaking to Bleacher Report on Thursday, Bellator 96 averaged 480,000 viewers over the two-hour-long broadcast.
Meanwhile, Fight Master: Bellator MMA, which featured prominent coaches such as Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock and Greg Jackson on the show, debuted with 432,000 average viewers over the 60-minute broadcast.
To put this into perspective, the last Bellator show that aired on Spike TV back in April pulled in an average of 901,000 viewers when Pat Curran defended his featherweight title in the main event.The show peaked with over one million viewers during the broadcast as well.
The entire season for Bellator, which stretched from January to April, averaged just around 800,000 viewers per episode.
Bellator did have some tough competition on Wednesday night as the NHL Stanley Cup game between the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks drew 6.64 million viewers when it aired starting at 8 p.m. EDT.Bellator 96 kicked off at the same time, and the new reality show was still airing while the game was ongoing.
Spike TV officials noted when speaking to Bleacher Report that the viewer demographics for hockey and MMA are virtually the same, so they expected a dropoff with the highly anticipated NHL game airing the same night.It wouldn’t have gotten any easier on Thursday, with Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs airing on ABC.
“We feel that a few hundred thousand people went over to watch one of the best hockey games you’d ever seen,” David Schwarz, senior vice president of communications for Spike TV told Bleacher Report on Thursday.“We are disappointed, but we feel like people will find the show and like all reality shows it might take a few nights.”
The change in nights for Bellator also saw the promotion lose its lead-in feature with TNA wrestling.The pro wrestling show was showcased prior to Bellator broadcasts on Thursday nights, but now by airing the fights on Wednesdays, Bellator is going at it alone for the first time.
Schwarz said that while the numbers were definitely down, Spike TV is also aware that it takes time to grow a product and allow viewers time to find it on a new night.The reality show is in the same boat and they expect growth as more and more people discover the program.
The key, according to Schwarz, is putting the best quality programming on the network possible and he believes the viewers will follow.
“The product is good,” Schwarz said. “That’s what’s most important.”
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Bellator debuted its summer series of fights on Wednesday night, capped off by “King” Mo Lawal’s knockout over Seth Petruzelli before the new reality show Fight Master: Bellator MMA also kicked off on Spike TV. This was the first night Bellator moved f…
Bellator debuted its summer series of fights on Wednesday night, capped off by “King” Mo Lawal’s knockout over Seth Petruzelli before the new reality show Fight Master: BellatorMMA also kicked off on Spike TV.
This was the first night Bellator moved from Thursdays to Wednesdays since debuting on the cable network earlier this year.
On Thursday, the ratings for the live show and the reality show were released, and the numbers dipped dramatically from previous airings during the first half of 2013.
According to the ratings released by the Nielsen ratings system and confirmed by Spike TV officials when speaking to Bleacher Report on Thursday, Bellator 96 averaged 480,000 viewers over the two-hour-long broadcast.
Meanwhile, Fight Master: Bellator MMA, which featured prominent coaches such as Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock and Greg Jackson on the show, debuted with 432,000 average viewers over the 60-minute broadcast.
To put this into perspective, the last Bellator show that aired on Spike TV back in April pulled in an average of 901,000 viewers when Pat Curran defended his featherweight title in the main event.The show peaked with over one million viewers during the broadcast as well.
The entire season for Bellator, which stretched from January to April, averaged just around 800,000 viewers per episode.
Bellator did have some tough competition on Wednesday night as the NHL Stanley Cup game between the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Blackhawks drew 6.64 million viewers when it aired starting at 8 p.m. EDT.Bellator 96 kicked off at the same time, and the new reality show was still airing while the game was ongoing.
Spike TV officials noted when speaking to Bleacher Report that the viewer demographics for hockey and MMA are virtually the same, so they expected a dropoff with the highly anticipated NHL game airing the same night.It wouldn’t have gotten any easier on Thursday, with Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs airing on ABC.
“We feel that a few hundred thousand people went over to watch one of the best hockey games you’d ever seen,” David Schwarz, senior vice president of communications for Spike TV told Bleacher Report on Thursday.“We are disappointed, but we feel like people will find the show and like all reality shows it might take a few nights.”
The change in nights for Bellator also saw the promotion lose its lead-in feature with TNA wrestling.The pro wrestling show was showcased prior to Bellator broadcasts on Thursday nights, but now by airing the fights on Wednesdays, Bellator is going at it alone for the first time.
Schwarz said that while the numbers were definitely down, Spike TV is also aware that it takes time to grow a product and allow viewers time to find it on a new night.The reality show is in the same boat and they expect growth as more and more people discover the program.
The key, according to Schwarz, is putting the best quality programming on the network possible and he believes the viewers will follow.
“The product is good,” Schwarz said. “That’s what’s most important.”
Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and all quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal is one of a kind.