(Yeah, we’re not really stoked for this one either, Mo.)
Not too long ago, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal signed a — I guess you’d call it groundbreaking — deal with both Bellator and TNA Wrestling after being released from Strikeforce following a positive test for steroids and an epic Twitter meltdown, a decision he is probably patting himself on the back for in light of recent events. Ever since, we have been quietly waiting to see which one of Bellator’s remaining light heavyweights Mo would square off against first, whether it was…what’s his face, or, uhh…*snaps fingers*…uh…God, I know this…
…
…Turns out, Bellator is going the Josh Barnett route for King Mo’s big debut, bringing in a complete outsider named *checks glasses* Przemyslaw Mysiala to conveniently get squashed just before confetti falls from the ceiling and Mo is declared the next challenger to whomever emerges victorious from the Christian M’Pumbu/Attila Veigh fight. And you better believe that some form of energy drink will be used to hose bitches down at some point in this ceremony, because it sooo will.
(Yeah, we’re not really stoked for this one either, Mo.)
Not too long ago, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal signed a — I guess you’d call it groundbreaking — deal with both Bellator and TNA Wrestling after being released from Strikeforce following a positive test for steroids and an epic Twitter meltdown, a decision he is probably patting himself on the back for in light of recent events. Ever since, we have been quietly waiting to see which one of Bellator’s remaining light heavyweights Mo would square off against first, whether it was…what’s his face, or, uhh…*snaps fingers*…uh…God, I know this…
…
…Turns out, Bellator is going the Josh Barnett route for King Mo’s big debut, bringing in a complete outsider named *checks glasses* Przemyslaw Mysiala to conveniently get squashed just before confetti falls from the ceiling and Mo is declared the next challenger to whomever emerges victorious from the Christian M’Pumbu/Attila Veigh fight. And you better believe that some form of energy drink will be used to hose bitches down at some point in this ceremony, because it sooo will.
To be fair, Mysiala holds a decent 16-7 record to his credit, so counting him out right from the start seems a bit foolish. On the other hand, he is just 2-2 in his past 4 fights and suffered both those losses by (T)KO, and if Mo is good at one thing, it’s the TKO. I’m not sure where Bellator’s matchmaking department finds these people, but we’ll give them credit for keeping things underground and not selling out to those conformist corporate pigs *puts on skinny jeans and cranks up 8-track player*.
The fight is scheduled for Bellator 86 on January 24th, which goes down in Thackerville, Oklahoma and will also feature Ben Askren vs. Karl Amoussou for the promotion’s welterweight title. It will be Bellator’s second event of season eight and will be broadcast live on SpikeTV.
King Mo has not fought since his win over Lorenz Larkin at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine (Author’s note: Man, never gets any easier writing that.) was overturned to a no contest, but can any of you even picture the sick, twisted future in which Mo does not win this?
When you talk about pro wrestling versus MMA, fans are like, “pro wrestling is fake, nothing’s real and it’s like a soap opera.” Whereas those same people say MMA is real: it’s real competition.
We have seen fighters make the transition from …
When you talk about pro wrestling versus MMA, fans are like, “pro wrestling is fake, nothing’s real and it’s like a soap opera.” Whereas those same people say MMA is real: it’s real competition.
We have seen fighters make the transition from pro wrestling to MMA, with some notables like Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, Dave Batista and Ken Shamrock making the trek.
But we have never seen the transition from MMA to pro wrestling or someone who does both sports at the same time. Enter former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.
It was announced in May that Lawal had agreed to a deal with Bellator Fighting Championships and TNA Wrestling. Lawal made his debut in TNA a little less than three weeks ago, with his Bellator debut slated for sometime in January.
Lawal who has been an avid wrestling fan since he was a little kid and didn’t know what to expect when he made his debut.
“I had to change shirts,” Lawal told Bleacher Report. “I didn’t know what to expect. The people didn’t know who I was. They respect me because I respect the sport. The fans could have booed me or not cheer for me. I was happy that I got some kind of pop. I was cool with the reaction. I would have been in trouble if I got no reaction. That was my main concern.”
Pro wrestlers have been known in the past to become territorial when new people come into what they perceive as “their world.” Lawal says that wasn’t the case with him.
“They (the wrestlers) were cool,” Lawal stated. “They respect me because I respect wrestling. I know a lot of old school wrestlers, their moves, etc. I was a huge wrestling fan growing up and now I’m stepping into their world and training to do it.”
Lawal has been training at Ohio Valley Wrestling in Louisville, Kentucky, for about three weeks under the guidance of former WWE wrestler Nick “Eugene” Dinsmore and Frank Miller. Lawal says the training has been harder than he ever anticipated.
“I thought it was going to be hard, but this (pro wrestling training) is harder than I expected,” Lawal stated. “I’m going to tell you this. Pro wrestling training is three times harder than MMA. It’s harder because of the psychology, the positioning, the bumps, hitting the ropes and cutting promos.
“That s**t is hard. People don’t understand this s**t. People think wrestling is all fake. If you think it is fake, come try it out and you will see how real it really is.”
The Bellator and TNA star loves MMA, but feels MMA is starting to become a fad.
“It starts with the way the fans don’t think for themselves,” Lawal stated. “They have to look to certain people for approval on how they think. They bash the fighters and think fighting is easier than it really is. A lot of people didn’t grow up fighting. They grew up playing football and basketball. So they can relate to missing a pass, a layup, free throws and dropping a pass, an interception or kicking a field goal.
“MMA fans never grew up fighting. They just put on their Affliction or Tapout shirts and say, ‘Hey I’m a fighter or hey I’m going to a fight.’
“To me, its a joke. It is a certain demographic that’s involved and I’m not with that.”
(Mo wrote down all of his answers for this interview to prove, once more, to the Nevada State Athletic Commission that he can read and write in English.)
Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether Muhammed Lawal is truly as carefree as he sounds or if “King Mo” just doesn’t want us to see him sweat. The former All-American wrestler and current MMA light heavyweight has been embattled recently.
After exploding onto the international fight scene in 2008 Lawal suffered a violent loss, his first, to Rafael Cavalcante in 2010. In 2011 and early 2012 he got back on the winning track, stringing together two-straight but then Lawal had his win over Lorenz Larkin overturned after he failed a post-fight drug test.
A subsequent hearing, suspension, twitter outburst where he called a Nevada State Athletic Commissioner a “bitch,” and firing from Strikeforce followed. Oh yeah, Lawal also nearly died after a staph infection.
When we ask Lawal how he’s managed to stay focused and sane throughout it all he says, “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Really?
“All I care about is providing for my family,” he tells CagePotato. “And MMA is a small part of what I do to make a living.”
It certainly is about to become just one of two professional athletic careers that Lawal uses to make ends meet. Since being released by Strikeforce, Lawal has signed with Bellator and Total Nonstop Action wrestling. The idea is for him to simultaneously and regularly take part in professional wrestling and pro MMA.
(Mo wrote down all of his answers for this interview to prove, once more, to the Nevada State Athletic Commission that he can read and write in English.)
Sometimes it’s hard to tell whether Muhammed Lawal is truly as carefree as he sounds or if “King Mo” just doesn’t want us to see him sweat. The former All-American wrestler and current MMA light heavyweight has been embattled recently.
After exploding onto the international fight scene in 2008 Lawal suffered a violent loss, his first, to Rafael Cavalcante in 2010. In 2011 and early 2012 he got back on the winning track, stringing together two-straight but then Lawal had his win over Lorenz Larkin overturned after he failed a post-fight drug test.
A subsequent hearing, suspension, twitter outburst where he called a Nevada State Athletic Commissioner a “bitch,” and firing from Strikeforce followed. Oh yeah, Lawal also nearly died after a staph infection.
When we ask Lawal how he’s managed to stay focused and sane throughout it all he says, “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Really?
“All I care about is providing for my family,” he tells CagePotato. “And MMA is a small part of what I do to make a living.”
It certainly is about to become just one of two professional athletic careers that Lawal uses to make ends meet. Since being released by Strikeforce, Lawal has signed with Bellator and Total Nonstop Action wrestling. The idea is for him to simultaneously and regularly take part in professional wrestling and pro MMA.
Lawal has two jobs now and his health back so it might be easier for him to overlook past troubles now but he also says he has no regrets.
“No, not really,” he answers bluntly when asked if he has any regrets with regards to his failed drug test and publicly insulting an athletic commissioner.
NSAC commissioner Pat Lundvall was direct and terse in questioning Lawal during the hearing over his failed drug test where he was ultimately suspended. At one point, Lundvall asked Lawal if he could read English.
It is a line of questioning that the commissioner had used in past hearing with other fighters, as she seemed to attempt to make a larger point about athletes taking responsibility for knowing what they ingest and what treatments they receive.
The college-educated Lawal, however, did not take kindly to being sarcastically asked if he could read and he took to twitter calling Lundvall a “racist bitch.”
Lawal is unrepentant and says he believes others can relate to why he had his outburst. “I said how I felt at the time,” Lawal explains.
“Think about if you were asked a similar thing, talked to in a similar way, what would you have felt? I just said what I felt at the time.”
Lawal hasn’t fought since January but his next training camp, of sorts, won’t prepare him for MMA. “King Mo” says that this month he will begin training to become a professional wrestler in the Ohio Valley Wrestling farm system.
Lawal says that he plans to take part in pro wrestling and MMA competition simultaneously and is not worried about suffering too many injuries or having his integrity as a competitive athlete called into question. He also just loves pro wrestling.
“I always loved to watch,” he says. “[Strikeforce heavyweight champion] Daniel Cormier and I used to warm up together by playing around and doing pro wrestling moves on each other.
As for the grind that professional wrestlers go through and the toll it takes on their bodies, Lawal doesn’t seem concerned. “I get injured more in training for fighting than anything. For me it makes no difference,” he maintains.
“Injuries are a part of being an athlete.”
Lawal also says that he won’t be any less of a serious competitor in MMA just because he will be taking part in scripted contests as a pro wrestler.
“In terms of credibility, a big part of pro wrestling is acting. If Denzel Washington plays a crooked cop in a movie, does it affect his credibility as a law-abiding citizen in real life?” he asks rhetorically.
“Pro wrestling is acting. It has a huge amount of athleticism in it with high flying stuff and the rest, but it is acting and people understand that.”
In fact, it’s his competitive ability to learn fast that Lawal says gives him confidence he will succeed in pro wrestling. “I always do and will do whatever I can to jump into it as quickly as possible. I study combat. I know more about wrestling, I know more about MMA and I know more about boxing than people would probably think,” he says.
“I love combat and study it. I’ll study professional wrestling in the same way and I know I’ll learn it.
Lawal says he has asked former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett, who also wrestled professionally for years in Japan, for advice. “He just told me to learn as much as I can,” Mo tells.
There’s no way someone who became a champion in college and a top international competitor in wrestling, to say nothing of becoming a major organization champion in MMA, the way Lawal has can be as indifferent as he sounds sometimes. Maybe the light heavyweight has no regrets about mistakes and perhaps he considers MMA to just be a “small part,” of his life.
Lawal still has goals, though. “I want to win the Bellator belt and I want to have some heavyweight super fights,” he says.
“In pro wrestling and fighting, I just want to always excite and entertain fans.”
The prominence of social media requires absolutely no discussion. There is not a person reading this article that needs to be told how important Facebook and Twitter are to sports, marketing and business in general. Twitter’s appeal, in large part, is …
The prominence of social media requires absolutely no discussion. There is not a person reading this article that needs to be told how important Facebook and Twitter are to sports, marketing and business in general.
Twitter’s appeal, in large part, is in celebrities opening a window into their life for fans to peep through. Unlike Facebook or MySpace or anything else, Twitter allows the larger-than-life folks to communicate with (as they would say) the commoners, without having to deal with that riffraff talking back.
While other sports generally discourage tweeting with Internet supporters and detractors, the UFC takes a polar opposite stance. Though the NFL hangs on what can go wrong, MMA promoters realize that the one-on-one interaction that Twitter offers is valuable at every level of the company from executives reminding consumers about events to fighters connecting with fans.
The thing is, all those executives and all those fighters are still human. Humans, by and large, are not perfect and therefore, make mistakes. As Hayley Williams, Gilbert Gottfried and Rashard Mendenhall can all attest to, one poorly thought out post on Twitter can quickly change the public’s perception of anyone.
Regardless, the UFC is always looking for publicity. A strong presence on Twitter offers them the chance for bonus headlines
Ultimately, the results have been somewhat mixed, leading many to weigh the pros and cons of the UFC’s tweeting enthusiasm. Figuring out whether or not this is a net gain for the UFC is difficult, but something worth pondering. So what, then, are the pros and cons of all this?
It’s fair to say that drug abuse has ruined some of the Zuffa’s biggest fights in the last few years.Alistair Overeem was pulled from UFC 146 due to elevated levels of testosterone, resulting in a drastically reshuffled heavyweight fight card.Instead o…
It’s fair to say that drug abuse has ruined some of the Zuffa’s biggest fights in the last few years.
Alistair Overeem was pulled from UFC 146 due to elevated levels of testosterone, resulting in a drastically reshuffled heavyweight fight card.
Instead of receiving an immediate rematch against Anderson Silva after a nail-biter of fight at UFC 117, Chael Sonnen spent a year on the bench for the same thing.
Muhammed Lawal now sits in the employ of Spike TV and Bellator after a positive drug test and a hasty suspension, poised to become a much bigger star than he was in Strikeforce.
Even the women’s division isn’t immune, as pound-for-pound killer Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos failed a test for stanozolol metabolites, ruining any chance of her matching up against rising star Ronda Rousey.
Even Josh Barnett, a marketable and charismatic “Top 10” heavyweight legend, may be on the free market soon, as his repeat suspensions for steroid use add a ton of baggage to any new contract he could sign with Zuffa.
At some point, the UFC had to step in, that much is certain.
But despite UFC President Dana White confirming with the LA Times that his promotion would take up the responsibility of testing fighters under their roster, there’s a bigger problem not being addressed.
No matter what, fighters will take performance enhancing drugs. If hearsay and behind-the-hand speak is to be believed, more than 90 percent of them will do so in hopes of never getting caught.
And when they do get caught?
Serve a suspension, pay a fine, and if you’re popular enough, you’ll be brought back into the fold like nothing happened. Just look at Overeem, Sonnen, Chris Leben, Stephan Bonnar, Sean Sherk and Thiago Silva.
If the UFC is going to adopt the task of drug testing, they’ll have to adopt stiffer punishments as well. Suspensions and fines aren’t going to be enough.
Should fighters be cut for failing drug tests? That would be drastic, but maybe that’s what it’ll take.
In a fair world, Alistair Overeem would be cut from the UFC, and Cris Cyborg would be dropped from Strikeforce. Doing that would send a clear message to the ranks that even if you’re a dominant champion, a PPV draw, or just a fan-favorite fighter, that won’t save you from willingly breaking the rules.
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (8-1) is MMA’s man of the hour after signing a deal to join Bellator Fighting Championship and TNA Impact Wrestling.Thursday’s news couldn’t come at a better time for Lawal since the embattled Strikeforce veteran faced such a w…
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (8-1) is MMA’s man of the hour after signing a deal to join Bellator Fighting Championship and TNA Impact Wrestling.
Thursday’s news couldn’t come at a better time for Lawal since the embattled Strikeforce veteran faced such a whirlwind of endless drama in recent months. From serious knee surgery resulting in a life-threatening staph infection to a positive post-fight reading for Drostanolone to the controversy surrounding his calling a Nevada State Athletic Commissioner a “racist bitch,” Lawal seemed to be a negative news magnet for the MMA media lately.
Lawal suddenly changed from Zuffa’s goat into MMA’s golden goose as the word of his new cross-promotional contract spread. His journey from victim to victor might have been a painstaking one, but it certainly appears to be paying off right now.
The first hint of any writing on the wall leading to Lawal’s ultimate exit from Zuffa may have come when he compared Strikeforce to a dying cancer patient last year.
“It feels a little weird, because it’s not the same,” Lawal said in the wake of Zuffa, LLC’s formal announcement, proclaiming their acquisition of Strikeforce. “It’s like a cancer patient, like a dying cancer patient. That’s how I feel like the organization is. We’re just waiting for it to die, to pass. As long as I can get my fights in and they’re still around, I want to get them in.”
Zuffa didn’t pull the trigger on firing Lawal until March 27th of this year, perhaps due to Zuffa President and part-owner Dana White staying out of the fray and allowing Scott Coker to maintain a “business as usual” approach to running Strikeforce.
The tweet that broke the camel’s back for White resulted in profuse apologies from Lawal for the misunderstanding with the commissioner, but all to no avail. Bantamweight UFC Fighter Miguel Torres found himself in Lawal’s shoes last December after his own controversial tweet got him fired. The league hired Torres back after listening to his sincere apologies, but Lawal didn’t get anywhere near the same treatment. As a Strikeforce fighter, perhaps Lawal was more expendable than Torres.
Bellator appeared to be the most likely landing point for Lawal after Zuffa gave him his walking papers, but not many experts could have predicted a wrestling contract on top of a new MMA home for King Mo. For any MMA fighter with a background in wrestling, Lawal’s contract is intriguing and exciting. The unique arrangement is also bound to gain a tremendous amount of free press due to the novelty of such a deal and Viacom’s position to make it.
As far as Lawal is concerned, distance from Strikeforce does not make the heart grow fonder. Now situated in a strong position to bark back at his old bosses, Lawal let loose Thursday night on MMA Uncensored Live. The show is hosted on Spike TV, a station which is quickly turning into an anti-UFC platform.
TNA Impact Wrestling is also a Spike TV production.
During his leadoff appearance on MMA Uncensored Live, Lawal compared working for Zuffa to being out in the hot sun all day “begging for water” and added later that the company often treats fighters like numbers. He contrasted his relationship with Bellator and TNA by saying that it’s like working in air conditioning. Lawal also said his new employers are “more personable” than their Zuffa counterparts.
This move comes on the heels of the UFC snatching Hector Lombard (31-2) away from Bellator at the end of April, leaving the league without their middleweight champion.
The bold Lawal signing smacks of smart business sense, revenge, and perhaps even a hint directed to Alistair Overeem—sign with Bellator and you can wrestle out your MMA suspension with TNA. Viacom is not taking competition with the UFC lightly, and this could be the start of a chain reaction of similar signings their Zuffa colleagues can’t match or beat. Zuffa is notorious for not allowing participants in the league to fight elsewhere or compete in any other formal sport. Strikeforce fighters are grandfathered in to an extent, but that league is no longer a direct competitor of the UFC. Bellator is.
There are countless Zuffa fighters who might find a dual wrestling/MMA contract attractive from a financial perspective. This is not to mention all the other concrete and undocumented perks that such a deal would naturally provide. Though not all MMA fighters have significant wrestling backgrounds, there’s not many who don’t train in wrestling to stay up to par in the sport. This deal doesn’t just turn the heads of former high school and college wrestlers, it lays down the gauntlet for Zuffa and says “eat this.” The WWE is also a Viacom competitor, so this move and potential follow up signings like it mean Vince McMahon will have to stay on his toes as well.
Maybe even more important than the carrot this deal dangles in front of potential future dual-contract signers from other MMA leagues is the broader meaning of Mo’s signing—You can stay with Zuffa and be chastised for speaking out, or you can sign with the competition and be amply rewarded for being loud and proud.
Lawal will reportedly begin wrestling for TNA sometime before his current nine-month MMA suspension expires, clearing him to fight for Bellator. TNA Wrestling was founded in 2002 and airs programming every Thursday on Spike TV.
When you talk about pro wrestling versus 
It’s fair to say that drug abuse has ruined some of the Zuffa’s biggest fights in the last few years.