Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, Muhammed Lawal made it two in a row last night (Jan. 7, 2012) in Las Vegas, Nevada, at Strikeforce: "Rockhold vs. Jardine" as he defeated rising prospect Lorenz Larkin with relative ease in the second round, and in the process, handed "The Monsoon" his first-ever mixed martial arts (MMA) loss.
The former NCAA Division-II national wrestling champion rag-dolled Larkin for both rounds and ultimately finished the fight with some vicious ground-and-pound that forced referee Kim Winslow to step in and stop the fight in what appeared to be a late stoppage.
After losing his Strikeforce light heavyweight title to Rafael Cavalcante, which subsequently saw his undefeated streak come to an end in Sept. 2010, Lawal has started a new win streak and perhaps likely set himself up to compete for the vacant Strikeforce light heavyweight title that Dan Henderson left behind when he bolted for greener pastures over in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Never at a loss for words, "King Mo," sounded off at the post-fight press conference (via MMADieHards.com) on everything from his win over Larkin to what the commission should do to punish referee Kim Winslow for the late stoppage to his ongoing feud with a certain former UFC champion.
Check it out:
"From now on, in this press conference, don't say Mousasi's name or I'm going to fall asleep. He is the most boring person in MMA you know what I'm saying? If they want me to beat Mousasi up, or my bad, Kermit, up, then I'll do it. He is just so boring I hate thinking about him. The dude is boring though, to support my band-wagon lets boycott Gegard. "
"King Mo" also wasn't too thrilled when asked about a match-up with Quinton Jackson:
"Why you have to bring up that bums name man? It's like this: if he wants to come to Strikeforce and get beat up, he can. To me, he should just stick to acting and just doing movies cuz to me, in my mind and in my eyes, man he ain't got it no more. And he can hit me up on Twitter and talk trash trying to get me out of my game, but, really we all know the truth. Man he's an actor, a sub par actor. He should be on the B-team and not the "A-Team."
When asked if he felt his fight should have been stopped much sooner:
"The commission, they need to do something with her. Let her take a fight or something and give her a bad ref. Let her fight Cyborg or something. Let her fight 'Cyborg' and then let's do a late stoppage of her. Because I watched her almost get Jan Finney killed by 'Cyborg.' I think the tables need to be turned. Put me in there as a ref and I'll just do a terrible job like her. I heard people from the crowd yelling to stop it and she jumps in all late. I told her, 'Hey you should have stopped the fight earlier.' And she's like, 'Well, I wanted to give him every opportunity to bounce back, so if it takes for him to be asleep. That's what it is.' She never took a punch before so it's easy for her to say that."
Tell us how you really feel, Muhammad.
Perhaps a rematch against "Feijao," the only man to ever best Lawal, could be in order for the wrestling powerhouse.
Then again, much to "King Mo's" chagrin, Gegard Mousasi is also a top candidate to compete for the 205-pound strap after four straight victories including his most recent win over another rising prospect, Ovince St. Preux at Strikeforce: "Melendez vs. Masvidal" back on Dec. 17, 2011.
What's your take, Maniacs, was the fight stopped too late? And who should be Lawal's next opponent under the Strikeforce banner?
Opinions, please.
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