No loss of words for “King” Mo Lawal
Post-fight report by Andreas Hale
Photo by Chris Cozzone
Never at a loss for words, “King” Mo Lawal provided all the unintentional side-splitting entertainment needed at the post-fight press conference of Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine after scoring a resounding 2nd round TKO over Lorenz Larkin. His knockout preceded his AKA teammate Luke Rockhold’s knockout over Keith Jardine in a night where the American Kickboxing Academy reigned supreme.
“The fight went exactly the way I knew it was going to go,” Lawal explained of his ground and pound approach to taking out Larkin. “I knew I’d take him down. I had great sparring for this.
I knew if I could deal with what Luke Rockhold throws at me in sparring I could deal with what the ‘Shaolin Master’ could throw.”
The devastating knockout came after roughly 15 unanswered punches to the face before referee Kim Winslow finally rescued Larkin from further damage that could have ruined the young fighter’s career. Lawal knew that the stoppage came late and was concerned with Winslow’s ability as a referee.
“I knew it was bad because he was cursing every time I hit him,” Mo explained as he recounted the final moments before the stoppage. “He was like “Aw ****!” I was like “Ref?” There were people yelling in the crowd to stop it but she came in too late.”
Lawal has a remedy for bad officiating and made a suggestion that had the entire press room erupt with laughter.
“The commission needs to do something with her. How about let her take a fight and give her a bad referee. Let her fight Cris “Cyborg” Santos and let her get a late stoppage after getting punched in the face.”
The former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion has been impressive in back to back fights since coming back from surgery after his knockout loss to Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante back in 2010. There’s a secret to Lawal’s success however. And it’s probably not what you think.
“There’s a little secret though,” Lawal began. “You put me and my tag team partner Luke Rockhold on the same card, people getting beat. I guarantee you that. We are cookies and cream, dominos, whatever you want to call it.”
With another victory under his belt, the former NCAA Division II national champion must look towards the future to figure out what may be next for him. Many feel that he’s deserving of a rematch against Feijao to reclaim his title but there have been murmurs of him facing former Strikeforce champion Gegard Mousasi again. That’s certainly something that King Mo isn’t too thrilled about.
“Don’t say Mousasi name or I’m going to fall asleep,” he said as laughter came from the press in attendance. “He’s the most boring person in MMA. If I had to fight him again I would though. I just hate thinking about him. Join my bandwagon and let’s boycott Gegard!”
Another possibility — albeit a long shot — would be a highly anticipated showdown with Twitter rival Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Although it’s not likely to happen in the near future, King Mo welcomes a throwdown with Rampage.
“Why did you have to bring up that bum’s name,” Lawal barked. “If he wants to come to Strikeforce and get beat he can. He needs to stick to acting though because he doesn’t have it anymore. He’s a subpar actor though. He should be on “The B-Team” not “The A-Team.”
With Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker holding firm that no more Strikeforce fighters will be going to the UFC, Lawal made sure to confirm that he has no concerns about switching teams anytime soon.
“The fans are asking about the UFC, its stupid,” he said. “I’m in Strikeforce and I can’t be concerned with that. I have to worry about my next Strikeforce fight.”
