“King” Mo Lawal was successful in his Bellator debut, beating Przemyslaw Mysiala via first-round knockout. Lawal’s Bellator debut was hyped very thoroughly. The former Strikeforce champion appeared in many of the advertisements that plugged…
“King” Mo Lawal was successful in his Bellator debut, beating PrzemyslawMysiala via first-round knockout.
Lawal‘s Bellator debut was hyped very thoroughly. The former Strikeforce champion appeared in many of the advertisements that plugged Bellator‘s move to Spike TV, and he was the subject of an hour-long documentary following last week’s card, which explored his recovery from a near-fatal staph infection and his transition from Zuffa also-ran to Bellator superstar and professional wrestler.
All that hype, in combination with his wins over the likes of GegardMousasi, Roger Gracie and Lorenz Larkin made it hard to give Mysiala a chance.
Mysiala, in spite of his serviceable 16-7 record fighting on the European MMA scene, was clearly an easy opponent for Lawal. Six of his seven losses have come via knockout, and Lawal is a finisher, and Lawal is a nightmare matchup for him stylistically.
Lawal threw jab after jab, catching Mysiala again and again. As Mysiala slowed from the constant punishment, he threw a combination. Lawal found his chin, and put the Pole onto his back. The ref quickly stepped in and waved the fight to a close.
While both Lawal and Bellator big wig Bjorn Rebney are both certainly pleased with the results, the fight was not an especially amazing performance by the former Strikeforce champion. Lawal never shot for a takedown (a serious concern, given his previous knee troubles), and his stand-up, though effective, was technically questionable as he frequently dropped his guard and left his head exposed.
Still, Lawal remains the favorite in the tournament and will almost certainly become the Bellator light heavyweight champ with little resistance.
“King” Mo Lawal wasn’t having the best year in 2012. Suspended for steroid use after a knockout win over prospect Lorenz Larkin, he lashed out at what he perceived to be unfair treatment at the hands of the Nevada Athletic Commission.After an epic Twit…
“King” Mo Lawal wasn’t having the best year in 2012. Suspended for steroid use after a knockout win over prospect Lorenz Larkin, he lashed out at what he perceived to be unfair treatment at the hands of the Nevada Athletic Commission.
After an epic Twitter brouhaha that saw Lawal refer to Commissioner Pat Lundvall as a “racist b*tch,” the UFC and Strikeforce both saw damaged goods. Rather than wait out Mo’s suspension, they cut ties.
Spike TV, however, saw something else: an opportunity.
Lawal, they thought, could fit easily into two worlds. Not only could he compete in Bellator Fighting Championship tournaments but he could also bring his unique personality to Dixie Carter’s TNA Wrestling, which would be an unprecedented double-duty that hadn’t really been attempted since UFC star Dan Severn toured the country as NWA Champion in the mid-1990’s.
“That’s why we got him. Because we saw those kinds of opportunities,” Spike TV Executive VP for Sports Jon Slusser told Bleacher Report. “We have a world class athlete like King Mo who can live in both these worlds and is as dynamic as he is.They’re fun sports, they’re big characters and whenever there has been some crossover in the past, it’s been hugely successful and created some amazing stories and some amazing stars.”
To Lawal, a life-long wrestling fan who can go into great detail about the classic wrestling angles of the 1980’s and 1990’s, it seemed like a dream come true. He appeared tailor made for the pseudo sport. He’d already cultivated his “King Mo” persona, including elaborate ring entrances and controversial interviews, and he is a character that seems well-suited to the world of pro-wrestling where those kinds of gimmicks are common place.
“King Mo is the fighter,” Lawal said, explaining the difference between his character and himself. “Mo is the person at home, chilling, watching TV and eating junk food. Ice cream.”
After the dark days, when his livelihood was put at risk, his integrity was questioned, and his leg was in shambles after surgery, things were finally looking up.
Then he started his training at Ohio Valley Wrestling.
After two weeks, Lawal was almost ready to call it quits. The pain was a constant presence, and the slightest error when taking a fall meant a long night spent hurting. His ribs and side were rubbed raw from bouncing off the ring ropes and his neck hurt. His feet also hurt. Everything hurt.
“I underestimated how hard the pro wrestling would be,” Lawal told Bleacher Report. “There’s a lot of technique involved. Learning MMA is more fun. You’re punching, you’re kicking, you’re inflicting damage on someone else. Not yourself. In pro wrestling, you’re pretty much learning how to inflict damage on yourself. “
He soldiered through the rough patches and things started to click. In October, he made his TNA debut, rocking his trademark crown and shiny black MMA gloves. His in-ring debut, however, has yet to come, something that has Bellator President Bjorn Rebney a little nervous.
“That is not an easy way to make a living,” Rebney told Bleacher Report. “The thing that those guys are doing are things that lead to injury. They’re not playing checkers out there. It is hardcore, impact based, back and forth. So you’re always worried about him. But I think Mo is prepared as anyone can possibly be, physically and mentally, to do both. But I’m sure I’ll still clinch my teeth as I watch Mo flying off the top of the ring and doing double flips and landing on his head.”
Rebney can breathe a sigh of relief, though. Not only will Lawal hold off on his wrestling debut until after the Bellator light heavyweight tournament concludes, but he is also cognizant of the risks involved every time he steps into the squared circle.
“I already know, I’m not going to do nothing high flying,” Lawal said. “I’m just going to be an MMA fighter who does pro wrestling. I’m not going to do nothing off the top rope. None of those kendo stick matches. Anything that’s going to compromise me fighting? I’m not doing.”
While he’s happy to talk wrestling, Lawal‘s focus right now is elsewhere. After an absence of more than a year, Lawal will become the first high profile MMA fighter to enter one of Bellator‘s tournaments on Thursday, facing PrzemyslawMysiala, an unheralded Polish fighter who is competing for the first time on the world stage.
If you want to fight in the Bellator promotion, there really isn’t much choice—its tournament success or bust. That’s the path to the championship belt and the money fights. Whether you are a freshly signed prospect or a bona fide star, in Bellator you have to earn your opportunities.
Mo wouldn’t want it any other way.
“All true sports have a tournament format. Playoffs,” Lawal said. “The Olympics has a tournament format. I think it’s the best way to do it.”
Not much is known about Mysiala, a submission specialist fighting out of London. But if anyone would know his game, it would be Lawal. Beneath the flashy persona lurks a fighting savant, one of the sport’s true experts.
“He’s very knowledgeable,” Lawal‘s longtime friend and teammate Daniel Cormier said. “Always passing along information, in terms of fighting, boxing, and wrestling. Everything…(He) breaks down things to a level that you can’t even really comprehend. There are things that I don’t see that he sees. And then he passes them on and it’s like ‘Oh, I see.’ It makes so much sense. An unbelievable mind when it comes to this sport.”
Against Mysiala, he sees opportunities standing. Not coincidentally, Lawal has spent much of his training camp working with boxing trainer Jeff Mayweather. But, unlike other wrestlers who have become enamored with their own growing standup skills, Mo intends to remember where he came from.
“It’s like this. In all of my fights, when I needed to take somebody down, that’s what I did,” Lawal said. “That’s not going to change. If the takedown is there, I’m going to get it. If the jab is there, the right hand is open, I’m going to go for it. I’m going to take it.
“I’m not going to get caught up in standing up with a guy just to see if I can stand up with him. I’m going to go and find the easiest way to victory. The guy I’m fighting has submissions and subpar standup. But if I need to, I will take him down and knock him out there.”
“King” Mo Lawal makes his Bellator debut on Thursday at 10 PM ET, live on Spike TV.
Once of the most colorful personalities in Bellator, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, would like to see an old rival join him after his UFC contract is up: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Lawal was vocal in bringing in the former PRIDE star when he spoke to M…
Once of the most colorful personalities in Bellator, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, would like to see an old rival join him after his UFC contract is up: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.
Lawal was vocal in bringing in the former PRIDE star when he spoke to MMAWeekly Radio on Monday.
“Hell yeah, if they want to pay him and show him respect and take care of him. Give him a pro wrestling deal too, yeah, throw him a little boxing in his contract, like mine. Hell yeah, Rampage can get his money … Come fight where you feel like you’re respected, where you feel comfortable. I just want all fighters that have been in the game for a while to get their money, feel happy and feel comfortable and feel respected.”
Jackson’s displeasure with the UFC, his current employer, dates back over 10 months. His argument seems to be that he is underpaid is disrespected by his employer, so he wants to fight elsewhere once his contract expires.
However, he may trade in the Octagon for the ring as the former UFC light heavyweight champion has stated that he may take up boxing full time following his departure from the world’s premier MMA organization.
Lawal, who won the Strikeforce light heavyweight strap back in April 2010, realizes Rampage may be done with MMA—but if he’s not, he’s open to a high-profile matchup between the two.
“I don’t care where he goes, but if he wants to come to Bellator, hey that’s cool with me,” Lawal said. “He wants to fight at 205, let’s do it. He wants to fight at heavyweight, hey go ahead and do it.”
The last fight on Jackson’s contract is his showdown with rising Brazilian prospect Glover Teixeira at UFC on FOX 6 on Saturday.
Given that the 42-fight veteran enters the bout with a 2-3 record in his last five bouts, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him retire from the sport if he loses decisively.
Lawal signed a contract with Bellator in May 2010 and makes his long-awaited promotional debut this Thursday against PrzemyslawMysiala.
The bout is a quarterfinal fight in the eighth season of the Bellator light heavyweight tournament.
His Bellator contract also has a boxing clause, which permits him to trade leather in the ring as long as he gets through a light heavyweight tournament uninjured.
Rampage versus King Mo under the Bellator banner: still worth watching if Jackson gets dismantled by Teixeira this weekend?
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal isn’t daunted at making his Bellator debut at Bellator 86 on Spike TV. To him, MMA is a veritable cakewalk compared to what he’s been through on the wrestling mat. “I’ve been preparing mentally for all these big…
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal isn’t daunted at making his Bellator debut at Bellator 86 on Spike TV.
To him, MMA is a veritable cakewalk compared to what he’s been through on the wrestling mat.
“I’ve been preparing mentally for all these big moments through every wrestling match I’ve had before I even got to MMA,” Lawal told Bleacher Report on a media conference call.
“That’s why when people talk about MMA being hard, to me it’s easy compared to wrestling,” he said.
Lawal elaborated on the specific difficulties that made wrestling so gruesome and difficult. “Going overseas, wrestling guys from Russia and Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan. You gotta deal with the fact that in order to get paid you gotta win, and then you gotta deal with the referees cheating you.”
These experiences have seemingly galvanized “King Mo” against all the pressures and trials of the MMA world: the nerves, daily grind, etc.
Another aspect of the fight game to be apprehensive about is an unlikely upset, especially in light of this past Thursday’s Bellator event, where favorites Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Seth Petruzelli were both resoundingly beaten by their unheralded opponents. Lawal was cavalier regarding the chance of a possible loss to his opponent, Poland’s PrzemyslawMysiala.
“I’m not worried about no upsets,” said Lawal. “I’m just worried about me executing my game plan and winning these fights.”
Those are remarkably calm words for a man who nearly had his career cut short due to a debilitating knee surgery and subsequent infection—an infection that has since subsided and a knee that, according to Lawal, is 100 percent healthy.
“I went to Holland and made sure that [the knee injury] was all straight. I went there to strictly test myself against topflight kickboxers and strikers. That’s why I went there, to see if my knee could hold up, and I left with no injuries,” he said.
Lawal didn’t have too much to say about his opponent, save for a peculiar nickname that he bestowed upon his Polish foe.
“I know Przemyslaw—I call him ‘coleslaw’—I know he’s tough, has good submissions…I just gotta worry about myself being healthy for the next round. That’s all I’m worried about,” he said.
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs. PrzemyslawMysiala will take place at Bellator 86 on Spike TV on Jan. 24 at 10 p.m. ET. It will be the first fight for “King Mo” outside of Strikeforce since 2009.
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal: MMA fighter, pro wrestler…and boxer? If Lawal has his way, then yes. Recently, Bloody Elbow uncovered that Lawal actually had a boxing clause placed in his contract with Bellator Fighting Championships. When Bloody Elbo…
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal: MMA fighter, pro wrestler…and boxer? If Lawal has his way, then yes.
Recently, Bloody Elbow uncovered that Lawal actually had a boxing clause placed in his contract with Bellator Fighting Championships. When Bloody Elbow writer Stephie Daniels (a.k.a. “Crooklyn”) asked Lawal to elaborate, he did—he also mentioned famed Internet brawler Kimbo Slice as a potential opponent.
“I got a boxing clause in my contract,” Lawal said. “[Bellator CEO] Bjorn [Rebney] said that he was going to get me fights. But the thing with the contract is that we gotta agree on the opponent. But someone like Kimbo Slice? I’d be alright. We could hype that up, they can get behind me.”
Slice—whose real name is Kevin Ferguson—had a 4-2 run in MMA before he turned to professional boxing, where he is currently undefeated at 6-0. His most recent win was in October 2012.
“I think King Mo vs. Kimbo Slice would be a good boxing match,” said Lawal. “I got good training, he’s got good training. I want to make it happen. So my main goal is to get through this tournament, win it, defend it, defend the belt once or twice and after that get that fight with Kimbo.”
This may be more than just errant daydreaming on Lawal‘s part. A recent report by Dave Meltzer of MMAFighting.com indicated that Spike TV was interested in expanding outside of MMA.
Perhaps Spike can achieve some sort of holy trinity as far as combat sports on TV is concerned. The network has adequate MMA programming with Bellator (and if Bellator‘s Spike TV debut on Jan. 17 is as good as it says it’ll be, then Spike will have more-than-adequate MMA programming), it may someday have kickboxing and if King Mo has his way, it will have a boxing match that’s sure to do well ratings-wise.
King Mo is an ambitious personality. Bellator is an ambitious MMA promotion. Spike TV is an ambitious network. The synergy of all three of these entities will be something truly memorable and unique. Don’t change the channel anytime soon.
Just ahead of the Invicta FC 4 card on Saturday, the company hosted a special guest for its last preview show, with UFC 157 headliner Liz Carmouche joining the crew.Carmouche herself is a former Invicta FC fighter, earning a call to the UFC on the back…
Just ahead of the Invicta FC 4 card on Saturday, the company hosted a special guest for its last preview show, with UFC 157 headliner Liz Carmouche joining the crew.
Carmouche herself is a former Invicta FC fighter, earning a call to the UFC on the back of a stellar 2-0 stretch in the all-women’s promotion.
Alongside fellow Strikeforce veterans MuhammedLawal and Julie Kedzie, Carmouche talked at length about the fight card from top to bottom, giving especially some high praise to strawweight headliner Carla “Cookie Monster” Esparza:
I think it’s definitely going to have to go to Carla. I’ve trained with her personally and she’s a tough little person… Her wrestling is just unstoppable. I really think that cancels out Bec [Hyatt], unfortunately. So I’m definitely going to have to give this to Carla. But I think it’ll be a good fight.
Australian prospect Bec Hyatt stepped into the match as a late replacement after two opponents fell out of the event, making her a clear underdog.
However, “King Mo” Lawal anticipates that viewers might be in for a surprise, noting that the unpredictable nature of the matchup might swing in Hyatt’s favor:
[With] Bec stepping in to take this fight on short notice, obviously, she’s very confident. There’s probably something she knows that we don’t know. She comes from Australia, [has a] good kickboxing background, good jiu-jitsu. Maybe she can pull it off, land a knee, land a submission. We won’t know until Saturday.
Esparza and Hyatt will headline Saturday night’s card ahead of 12 other fights, including a noteworthy rematch between bantamweights Shayna “Queen of Spades” Baszler and Alexis Davis. You can catch Bleacher Report MMA‘s live blogright over here, with recaps to follow this weekend.
“King” Mo