Undefeated Sengoku star Muhammed Lawal (5-0) is in talks to make his Strikeforce debut in the heavyweight division opposite Mike Whitehead (24-6) at "Evolution" from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., on Dec. 19.
While both fighters have verbally agreed to the contest, bout agreements have not yet been signed.
Prior to his 25-second demolition of MMA legend Mark Kerr at M-1 "Breakthrough" back on Aug. 28, "King Mo" had competed exclusively under the World Victory Road banner in Japan since his professional mixed martial arts debut just last year.
The decorated collegiate wrestling champion and Division I All-American from Oklahoma State University has shown tremendous promise, defeating several veterans of the sport and stopping most of them. He instantly made a name for himself in his debut against Travis Wiuff at Sengoku: "Fifth Battle" — Lawal needed little more than two minutes to score a convincing technical knockout win via strikes.
It may not be that easy against "Iron" Mike. In 30 professional bouts, only Tim Sylvia and Brandon Vera were able to finish the former Ultimate Fighter (TUF) contestant.
Whitehead was eliminated from the Spike TV reality show by former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. He got a second chance at Octagon stardom at UFC 57: "Liddell vs. Couture 3," but got outworked by fellow TUF 2 cast mate Keith Jardine.
Instead of going away, Whitehead turned it up a notch -- or five -- by unleashing hell in smaller promotions, going 14-1 including a 4-0 run in the IFL (and a decision win over Krzysztof Soszynski) before the team-based promotion closed its doors.
In fact, his only loss during that span was a unanimous decision to former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Renato "Babalu" Sobral back at Affliction: "Banned" last July. He quickly got back into the win column on June 6 in St. Louis when he took the unanimous decision nod over Kevin Randleman at Strikeforce: "Lawler vs. Shields."
If he's able to maintain his cardio it should be a competitive bout.
Strikeforce: "Evolution" is expected to feature an interesting match up of styles between Matt "The Law" Lindland and Ronald "Jacare" Souza as well as the return of former middleweight champion Cung Le against Scott "Hands of Steel" Smith.
For the current Strikeforce: "Evolution" fight card click here.
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