Six questions with undefeated Strikeforce light heavyweight 'King Mo' Lawal
by Press Release on Dec 16, 2009 11:51 AM EST
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SAN JOSE, Calif., (Dec. 16, 2009) - Undefeated "King Mo" Lawal will make his Strikeforce debut and only his second mixed martial arts MMA appearance in the United States when he meets two-time NAIA wrestling All-American "Iron" Mike Whitehead in one of five televised fights on Showtime on Saturday, Dec. 19, from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
Lawal, a former three-time U.S. Senior National wrestling champion and former NCAA National collegiate wrestling champion (Central Oklahoma), recently signed a multi-fight agreement with Strikeforce. He has been training in Southern California with fellow Strikeforce competitors Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Benji Radach, and Fabricio Werdum, among others.
In his last fight, King Mo dusted aside MMA legend Mark Kerr in 25 seconds on Aug. 28. The charismatic, outspoken 28-year-old Lawal, whose public feud with Quinton "Rampage'' Jackson has been well-documented, is currently living in Temecula, Calif., by way of Mufiesboro, Tenn.
He recently answered Six Questions posed to him regarding his upcoming matchup.
QUESTION: What do you think about your Dec. 19 opponent Mike Whitehead?
KING MO: "I think Mike Whitehead is a good fighter. I'm not going to change anything or do anything differently. I just have to fight smart. We were both college wrestlers and have similar backgrounds. It should be a great fight."
QUESTION: You're training with some incredible fighters in Orange County. How has that helped you and have they given you any advice?
KING MO: "It's been great. You got guys like Dan Cormier, Benji Radach and "Mayhem" Miller. There's just a lot of guys and a lot of them have experience fighting for STRIKEFORCE. I haven't really asked for advice because everyone is different. I've fought in a lot of big venues myself and under a lot of stressful situations and a lot of places that were just overwhelming. I've wrestled in Iran and in Russia and fought in Budapest. I've seen it all as far as people rooting against me. So I think I have a lot to teach those guys, as well."
QUESTION: "What about fighting in Tokyo. Did you enjoy that experience?
KING MO: "I loved fighting over there. The food, the people, and just experiencing a different culture. But I'm happy to be back and fighting in the States. This will be my second fight here (he knocked out Mark Kerr in Kansas City in August)."
QUESTION: You have expressed interest in fighting heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko. Do you think you'll get a shot at him?
KING MO: "Well, we both have fights on the horizon that we have to take care of first. He'll have his hands full against guys like Fabricio (Werdum) and (Alistair) Overeem. I know I have to keep winning and so does he. He's not fighting very often so I don't know. It's up to STRIKEFORCE at this point."
QUESTION: What are you like outside the cage when you're not fighting?
KING MO: "I'm pretty boring. I don't anything too exciting. I like to just chill and listen to music. I actually like to watch boxing on TV."
QUESTION: Who are some of your favorite fighters?
KING MO: "I like Paul Williams, (Floyd) Mayweather, and (Manny) Pacquiao. I like to watch old tapes of (Muhammad) Ali, (Larry) Holmes. I like (Kelly) Pavlik and the Klitschko brothers. I like them all. And the SHOWTIME tournament with the Super Six has been great. I watched the (Andre) Ward-(Mikkel) Kessler fight. Like I said, I like it all."
Tickets for Dec. 19, priced from $30, are on sale at the HP Pavilion ticket office as well as at all Ticketmaster locations (800-745-3000), Ticketmaster online (www.ticketmaster.com) and STRIKEFORCE'S official website (www.strikeforce.com).
In the main event, undefeated former STRIKEFORCE World Middleweight (185 pounds) Champion Cung Le (6-0) will square off with hard-hitting Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith (17-6). STRIKEFORCE World Lightweight Champion Josh "The Punk" Thomson (16-2) will battle Interim Lightweight Champion Gilbert "El Nino" Melendez (16-2) in a long-awaited rematch to determine the undisputed king of STRIKEFORCE's 155 pound division. Former United States Olympic wrestling silver medalist Matt "The Law" Lindland (21-6) will face off with submission expert "Jacare" Souza (10-2).
Doors at HP Pavilion will open at 5 p.m. PT for the STRIKEFORCE: "Evolution" event presented by Rockstar Energy Drink and the first preliminary bout will begin at 6:00 PM, PT.
The live SHOWTIME telecast will begin at 10 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the west coast).
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i think he will beat whitehead, i wonder how he will do against guys like dan and gregard that will show where he really is.
Dont mention this punk in the same sentence as Dan or Gegard
There are plenty of shitty fighters who are undefeated because they have just been fighting bums and this guy is one of them.
Whitehead is another bum on the record, he looked awful last time(well hes never looked good to begin with)
by Lester The Pimp on Dec 16, 2009 1:27 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
lol
he has to start somewhere, you don’t fihgt the best in your first 5 fights. he is unproven for sure but that also means it is unproven that he is a bum he might be great we will see.
has to start somewhere
agree. but if youre fighting bums you shouldnt be coming out in a crown and acting like a pimp, you also shouldnt be fighting on a televised card, or be a cocky bstard like this muhamed guy. this fight is at 265 and he usually fights at 205, he would get murder by most heavyweights and there are 20+ lhw fighters who would ice this guy, i predict he is just a flash in the pan and in a couple of years he will disapear from the mma scene.
this should be his last warmup fight and soko looks like his only option after that, babalu would kick his ass, king mos days are numbered
Fedor vs King Mo
Not to mention he wants to fight Fedor lol. Take it from me Mo shut the hell up there is no chance in hell that fight will happnen and trust me you don’t want it to either. Idiot
by Jamie The Peach Hunter on Dec 16, 2009 1:37 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
woah lester
that was really harsh—no reason to hate on King MO like that. You can’t deny he’s a very promising prospect just because he’s not in the UFC you don’t have to bash him.
I personally think he would be a great matchup for Dan or Gegard assuming he gets past Whitehead (who is definitely not a can) and would be surprisingly competetive. In fact I’d go as far as to say he’d beat Hendo with Hendo’s suspect conditioning.
And then God said "Let there be light," to which Chuck Norris replied, "say please."
What makes him promising
Beating weak competition?
Jon Jones is promising. Mo is all overhype based on moronic entrance.
@fjbar75 on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner
haters, all haters
But i’ll be there kicking you all out it’s time to jump on his bandwagon. How many 5-0 fighters in the world have beaten the competition that he has? Only Mark Kerr is trash. Everyone else on there would be over the head of most guys beginning their careers. He literally started fighting in september of 08, yet he needs to fight Fedor. Anyone who has seen this man on the wrestling mats knows that there is no overhype. The man has taken an intelligent road to his career yet he gets bashed. What about this example – If i remember right though you were all willing to crown Joe Warren as the next second coming of hendo to beat all FWs? Guys need to time to learn the game otherwise they crosspost their arms on BJJ world champs and get viciously armbarred. End rant. Sorry bout that.
by NNR (formerly NameNotRequired) on Dec 16, 2009 6:55 PM EST up reply actions
Find me a quote where I said that about Joe Warren. I'll keep time.
Every single person Lawal has beat is garbage. Just because you can wrestle doesn’t mean you can beat anyone good in MMA. He hasn’t even fought anyone good.
Nothing but overhype.
I’m still keeping time…
@fjbar75 on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner
Murfreesboro, TN not Murfiesboro
"An explanation of cause is not a justification by reason."-C.S. Lewis
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