Strikeforce's "King Mo" Lawal: I'm not at all afraid of Roger Gracie's jiu-jitsu
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Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal barely got his throne warm before Rafael 'Feijao" Cavalcante stormed his castle.
The "King" was only king for four months before he was forced to hand over his light-heavyweight championship belt following a disappointing August 2010 loss – the first of his career.
A knee surgery, a long layoff and a fight postponement later, and here we stand.
Lawal (7-1 MMA, 2-1 SF) begins his comeback by facing Roger Gracie (4-0 MMA, 2-0 SF) on the Showtime-televised main card of "Strikeforce Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov." The event takes place Sept. 10 at U. S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati.
The pair originally was supposed to fight on July 30, but Gracie withdrew from the event due to an injury.
Both men finally appear to have put their respective health issues to bed for the time being.
"It feels good, man," Lawal told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "It's been a year since I've fought, so I got no injuries, no more. It's all good."
Once he was cleared to train following rehabilitation, Lawal decided to embrace his inner nomad for a few months.
He traveled to Holland to train alongside former kickboxing and Muay Thai world champion Tyrone Spong. While in Las Vegas, he worked with Xtreme Couture coach Ray Sefo, sought out multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion Robert Drysdale, and studied the "sweet science" under the watchful eye of Floyd Mayweather Sr.
He finally settled in at American Kickboxing Academy for the meat and potatoes of his camp to prepare for Gracie.
All the planes, trains and automobiles necessary to seek out different training partners and coaches were well worth it, according to Lawal.
"It keeps your skill set fresh," he said. "You're constantly adding on, where some people stay in the same area and they don't really evolve. They stay stagnant. I'm always trying to look to improve."
The skills, techniques and philosophies he has incorporated along the way will serve him well both in this fight and beyond.
In a sport as fluid as MMA, continuous learning is a requisite for success.
Gracie is no different. He continues to show gainful improvements, most notably in the kickboxing department in his recent bouts.
"[His standup is] better than what I expected it to be," said Lawal, having seen tape on Gracie. "I thought it was going to be terrible. He came out throwing jabs and one-twos and teeps and some leg kicks. He's solid."
The general consensus, however, is that the fight will boil down to a specific battle within the war: whether or not Gracie can get the former Division I All-American and international-level wrestler Lawal to the mat in order to work his submission wizardry. If not, he'll be at a distinct disadvantage on the feet in terms of technique, speed and power.
Predictably, Lawal doesn't think Gracie will be able to do what's necessary to get him down.
"Maybe if I slip," Lawal said. "I don't know. I don't think so, but I can take him down. I'm not afraid of his jiu-jitsu at all. He has a great closed guard, but sometimes when you get hit, that guard opens up.
"I'm not worried about nothing. I'm just worried about making weight and getting to the fight. That's all."
With confidence bursting at the seams again, the loss to Cavalcante now seems to be nothing more than a distant memory for Lawal. The man has his swagger back.
"I know I'm going to win," he said. "I'm going to win the fight. I don't know if it's by stoppage or ground and pound, whatever. Hey, (maybe) even submission.
"Anything's possible, dog."
I predict a KO/TKO victory for Mo. Only way for Gracie to win is to catch Mo with a submission, possibly after he get's rocked, knocked down or whatever. Mo's wrestling is way too good for Roger to take it to the ground himself.
Speaking of Mo, i don't like his attitude from time to time but you have to admire the talent in him. He is definitely doing the right thing training with Sponge, Sefo and AKA guy's.
Mo is so overrated. He has little gas tank...and his striking isn't anything special.
I'm not saying ROger will win. But Roger has to be improving each time out. And I wouldn't be that surprised to see a close fight if it is all standing. Mo will gas after round 1 if Roger puts any sort of pressure on him.
Other than the worst title fight in years vs. Mousasi. Where he just layed on Mousasi while they both sat there gassed. Mo has beat basically no one that is any good. I don't get where all his credit comes from.
Mo will probably win because he has more power standing. Not because he is a good striker or anything.
Think King Mo is a sleeping Giant in the LHW world of MMA, him raw talent is great, only faults in him game I have noticed are nothing that hard work in training and dedication cannot overcome, can't wait to see his return its been to long already, so little action going on in the Strikeforce LHW division, fighters are having to wait way to long between fights, after King Mo breaks Gracie unbeaten record which I strongly believe he will, then I would like to see him jump ship over to the UFC because I feel if he come good for his potential he would be one of very few that would stand a half decent chance against Jones.
He can start that series after he gets subbed by Gracie.
do you want to sig bet on that, I have Mo for the win you can have Gracie no matter what the method ether way, tho I think Mo with ether knock Gracie out on the feet or be successful with top control and be able to avoid submissions on the ground.
Unless Gracie can take Mo down and start work from dominant position in this fight I dont rate his chances at all, and I cant see him doing that, ether Mo will just avoid every TD attempt Gracie has to offer and keep it standing or have him working from his back on the ground and prove to powerful for Gracie to be able to work anything., that's how I predict this fight will go down, ether way I can't see anything other than a win for King Mo.
Mo will start out strong, but will end up rushing in smelling a TKO or KO and get caught in something, then we'll hear him bitch about it until the end of time! I would pee my knickers if he KO'd Mo out cold tho lol
Mo will start out strong, but will end up rushing in smelling a TKO or KO and get caught in something, then we'll hear him bitch about it until the end of time! I would pee my knickers if he KO'd Mo out cold tho lol
why do I not know any female MMA fans, any women I say MMA to instantly does not have a clue what I am on about.
Not very likely imo, I just have this feeling, and when I get this feeling I am rarely wrong I had it When Edgar took the title from Penn for example, when Jones destroyed Shogun I not only called it I knew it was going to be a one sided massacrer, sure I don't always call fights right put then I don't always get this feeling about a fight.
What this feeling is telling me is that Mo has spend this last year seriously ironing out all the weaknesses in his game, and what I think we are about to see is a much stronger and improved version of King Mo in every department than what we have ever seen before, he was good before, his boxing was good his wrestling was great, is cardio and athleticism suspect but quite athletic for short spells.
I just think he will have pushed himself to a standard that is great in all departments and will coem back guns blazing ready to crush anyone with any weakness in there style, for Roger I believe this will be his Take downs and Stand up, I believe King Mo will have a significant strength advantage on him that will prove to much to overcome in a ground battle even, I believe Roger Gracie will oppose near to no treat to King MO at all, in fact only fighter I would make favorate to stop the Mo I believe we are about to see come back woudl be Jones, I will save judgement till I have seem what the new Mo is like before I say who I think would win that fight.
I believe Mo will Crush Gracie then jump ship to the UFC and we will one day have the ultimate super fight the sport will have ever have know to date, Jones vs King Mo for the UFC title, since I believe no one in the UFC currently stands a chance of taking that Belt from Jones, and whats more I believe that Jones and King Mo will in years to come be remembered as having one of the most epic battle in the sports history as 2 of the very best P4P fighters the sport has ever seen.
He can start that series after he gets subbed by Gracie.
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Originally Posted by KillerShark1985
do you want to sig bet on that, I have Mo for the win you can have Gracie no matter what the method ether way, tho I think Mo with ether knock Gracie out on the feet or be successful with top control and be able to avoid submissions on the ground.
Unless Gracie can take Mo down and start work from dominant position in this fight I dont rate his chances at all, and I cant see him doing that, ether Mo will just avoid every TD attempt Gracie has to offer and keep it standing or have him working from his back on the ground and prove to powerful for Gracie to be able to work anything., that's how I predict this fight will go down, ether way I can't see anything other than a win for King Mo.
Let it be know to all that when called out, limba did a Charlie Z and offically b1tches out and runs away to hide just like Charile did in this video
Strikeforce's "King Mo" Lawal: I'm not at all afraid of Roger Gracie's jiu-jitsu
I would pee my knickers if he KO'd Mo out cold tho lol
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