Tag: Muhammed Lawal

King Mo TKOs Lorenz Larkin

Filed under: Strikeforce, NewsMuhammed “King Mo” Lawal gave Lorenz Larkin a one-sided beatdown on Saturday night’s Strikeforce card, looking very impressive with ground and pound to finish the fight.

The victory improves Lawal’s record to 9-1, and he …

Filed under: ,

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal gave Lorenz Larkin a one-sided beatdown on Saturday night’s Strikeforce card, looking very impressive with ground and pound to finish the fight.

The victory improves Lawal’s record to 9-1, and he said he’s hoping to re-take the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt in his next fight. That belt is currently vacant, but it would make sense for Lawal to get one of the two spots in a fight for the vacant title.

“Next person is taking a beating like this, too,” Lawal said.


Lawal took Larkin down less than 30 seconds into the first round and stayed on top for about three and a half minutes, easily controlling the fight with ground and pound that Larkin couldn’t answer. The fighters were only brought to their feet because of a highly questionable stand-up by referee Kim Winslow, but Larkin failed to do anything with that gift from the ref.

It was the same story in the second round: Lawal grabbed Larkin’s leg and worked for the single, needing less than a minute to get the fight to the ground and get into control on top. But this time Lawal did a lot more than just control from the top. He began pounding Larkin’s head with big right hands, and Larkin simply had no answer. After a bunch of rights connected to Larkin’s eye, Winslow had no choice but to step in and stop it.

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Strikeforce Live Blog: King Mo Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin Updates

Filed under:

This is the Strikeforce live blog for Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin, a light heavyweight bout on tonight’s Strikeforce on Showtime event from the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Lawal (8-1), a former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion scored a knockout against Roger Gracie in September. Larkin (12-0) earned this spot on the card by winning three times last year on Strikeforce Challengers cards.

The live blog is below.

King Mo’s entrance is rather mellow, as he makes his way towards the cage with his crown on.

Kim Winslow is the referee.

Round 1: Lawal throws first, a jab that comes up short. Lawal follows with a takedown and he’s on top 30 seconds into the round. Lawal pounds away with Larkin trapped against the cage. Larkin tries to scoot out but Lawal steps over into Larkin’s halfguard. Larkin turns towards Lawal and eats shots. Larkin tries to sit up only to have Lawal return him to his back. Lawal carefully scores with punches. Despite Lawal staying active, Winslow has seen enough and stands them up with 66 seconds remaining. Lawal tries to fool Larkin by keeping his lead left hand by his side and his right hand up, only to shoot out his left hand. Still, Larkin avoids it. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Lawal.

Round 2: Lawal throws an overhand right to try to set up the takedown but Larkin sees it coming. Lawal shoots again and lifts Larkin’s left leg high. Larkin tries to stay balanced but Lawal powers him down. Lawal peppers Larkin with punches inside the guard of Larkin. Lawal then postures up and drops down big right hands over and over (and over) for the referee stoppage.

Lawal gets up a little ticked off for what he seems to think was a late stoppage. In the post-fight interview, Lawal confirms he was upset but that Winslow explained to him that she wanted to give Larkin a chance to fight back. Lawal said he respects her decision since he would have wanted more time too if he was the one in Larkin’s position.

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal wins via TKO – Round 2, 1:32

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under:

This is the Strikeforce live blog for Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin, a light heavyweight bout on tonight’s Strikeforce on Showtime event from the Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Lawal (8-1), a former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion scored a knockout against Roger Gracie in September. Larkin (12-0) earned this spot on the card by winning three times last year on Strikeforce Challengers cards.

The live blog is below.

King Mo’s entrance is rather mellow, as he makes his way towards the cage with his crown on.

Kim Winslow is the referee.

Round 1: Lawal throws first, a jab that comes up short. Lawal follows with a takedown and he’s on top 30 seconds into the round. Lawal pounds away with Larkin trapped against the cage. Larkin tries to scoot out but Lawal steps over into Larkin’s halfguard. Larkin turns towards Lawal and eats shots. Larkin tries to sit up only to have Lawal return him to his back. Lawal carefully scores with punches. Despite Lawal staying active, Winslow has seen enough and stands them up with 66 seconds remaining. Lawal tries to fool Larkin by keeping his lead left hand by his side and his right hand up, only to shoot out his left hand. Still, Larkin avoids it. MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 for Lawal.

Round 2: Lawal throws an overhand right to try to set up the takedown but Larkin sees it coming. Lawal shoots again and lifts Larkin’s left leg high. Larkin tries to stay balanced but Lawal powers him down. Lawal peppers Larkin with punches inside the guard of Larkin. Lawal then postures up and drops down big right hands over and over (and over) for the referee stoppage.

Lawal gets up a little ticked off for what he seems to think was a late stoppage. In the post-fight interview, Lawal confirms he was upset but that Winslow explained to him that she wanted to give Larkin a chance to fight back. Lawal said he respects her decision since he would have wanted more time too if he was the one in Larkin’s position.

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal wins via TKO – Round 2, 1:32

Follow Us on Twitter Friend Us on Facebook

 

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Strikeforce Rockhold vs. Jardine: Final Main Card Predictions

Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will defend his title for the first time when he takes on Keith Jardine. The duo will serve as the main event of the evening as Strikeforce will make its first endeavor of the new year, while several…

Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will defend his title for the first time when he takes on Keith Jardine. 

The duo will serve as the main event of the evening as Strikeforce will make its first endeavor of the new year, while several captivating battles will also grace the event. 

Who will come out on top and move forward in their respective divisions?

Begin Slideshow

Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine, B/R MMA Full Main Card Staff Predictions

Strikeforce’s latest pay-per-view installment, which takes place on a free preview weekend for Showtime, is headlined by a middleweight title bout between reigning champion Luke Rockhold and UFC veteran Keith Jardine. Most fans are less than thril…

Strikeforce’s latest pay-per-view installment, which takes place on a free preview weekend for Showtime, is headlined by a middleweight title bout between reigning champion Luke Rockhold and UFC veteran Keith Jardine. 

Most fans are less than thrilled for this main event since “The Dean of Mean” is 0-0-1 under the Strikeforce banner, but Jardine is known for pulling off a number of upsets in his career. Rockhold would be making a mistake if he took his opponent lightly here. 

In a middleweight scrap, Robbie Lawler takes on innovative Russian striker Adlan Amagov in a bout where fans should expect to see very little, if any, action on the ground. 

Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed Lawal takes on undefeated prospect Lorenz Larkin in a bout that will put the winner right in the title mix.  

However, the bout with the biggest title implications is a welterweight scrap where Tyron Woodley, a man who feels he is a top-10 fighter in the world at 170 pounds, takes on the 21-year-old Canadian journeyman Jordan Mein. 

Another interesting matchup at welterweight features Tarec Saffiedine taking on relative unknown Tyler Stinson in a bout that could go either way, despite Stinson not being a household name.

Bleacher Report MMA Featured Columnists Dwight Wakabayashi, Dale De Souza, and myself, John Heinis, let you know who will have their hand raised on Saturday night.  

Take a look inside for the in-depth fight previews. 

Begin Slideshow

Rampage Jackson and King Mo Get into Fight on Twitter

As we’ve come to realize over the years, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson isn’t necessarily the friendliest man on the planet.While Jackson has certainly evolved into a fan favorite and one of the more entertaining fighters in MMA today, sometimes, he lets hi…

As we’ve come to realize over the years, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson isn’t necessarily the friendliest man on the planet.

While Jackson has certainly evolved into a fan favorite and one of the more entertaining fighters in MMA today, sometimes, he lets his emotions get the best of him.

In fact, Jackson recently let loose on Twitter when he was addressed by a fan on a potential fight with Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal in the near future.

The fan’s tweet stated,

“I told that he and needed to fight here in TN..2 fighters from TN fighting..he said Rampage doesn’t want to fight him”

Jackson apparently wasn’t too fond of the idea, as it wasn’t long before he addressed the possibility of a showdown with “King Mo”.

Jackson replied by stating,

hahaha funny! Dudes not even on my level! Tell 2 move up 2 the ufc 1st,cause I can’t move down 2 the show he’s at.”

After not only calling out “King Mo” and the organization of Strikeforce, Lawal immediately addressed the comments made by Jackson by stating,

“ now u wanna talk. Ima deal wit u after my fight. Level…u fallin off. U can be in denial.”

Jackson is set to take on Ryan Bader at UFC 144, while Lawal will square off with Lorenz Larkin at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine this weekend.

 

For additional information, follow Garrett Derr on Twitter.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Muhammed Lawal: Why King Mo Could Be a Force in the UFC

The name Muhammed Lawal may not be recognized by many mixed martial arts fans today.However, throw in the nickname “King Mo” and fans become well aware of who we are referring to.Lawal, who stands 6’0” and weighs 205 pounds has come to be one of the m…

The name Muhammed Lawal may not be recognized by many mixed martial arts fans today.

However, throw in the nickname “King Mo” and fans become well aware of who we are referring to.

Lawal, who stands 6’0” and weighs 205 pounds has come to be one of the most popular fighters in MMA today.

After beginning his career with an impressive 5-0 record, Lawal signed on with the organization of Strikeforce as his career appeared to be hitting the premier stage.

However, it wasn’t necessarily Lawal’s record that landed him a gig, but his powerful strikes that allowed him to finish four opponents in his first five bouts.

Lawal didn’t miss a beat after signing on with Strikeforce, posting a perfect 2-0 record on route to becoming the light heavyweight champion.

Despite losing his very next bout to Rafael Cavalcante, “King Mo” would bounce back with an enormous first-round knockout over Roger Gracie at the Strikeforce World Grand Prix.

While Lawal is currently set to take on Lorenz Larkin at the upcoming Strikeforce event on January 7th, it’s hard not to look at his possible future in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Not only does Lawal have a potential future in the UFC but a successful one at that.

Lawal’s knockout power has quickly separated him from the middle of the pack in the 205-pound weight division.

In fact, in nine total fights, Lawal has finished off his opponent via knockout six different times.

However, while Lawal is often recognized as a serious threat in the stand-up, many often fail to realize just how well-rounded “King Mo” truly is.

Lawal is a freestyle wrestler who took home gold at the Pan American Championships in 2007.

While Lawal’s plan of attack has revolved around his striking, he is more than capable of grappling with nearly any light heavyweight in the world.

With the future of Strikeforce in jeopardy, it’s likely we could see a merger allowing “King Mo” to make his UFC debut in the near future.

Lawal’s skill set demonstrates all the right ingredients for a successful career in the UFC.

 

For additional information, follow Garrett Derr on Twitter.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com