‘King Mo’ ready to put on a show against Whitehead
Dec 18, 2009 | by MattE | No CommentsMuhammed Lawal loves to talk about his entrance.
Just five fights into his professional mixed martial arts career, Lawal’s walk-in has, depending on the fan, secured a place amongst either the most entertaining or most absurd entrances in the sport.
Saturday, when he makes his Strikeforce debut against Mike Whitehead on Showtime (9 p.m. Central), Lawal, known to fans as “King Mo,” promises the walk-in will be a good one.
Judging by Lawal’s past entrances, that means fans can expect something like this: Either (A) a heavy rap beat blaring in the background or (B) Lawal’s trademark song while fighting in Japan, which encouraged fans to chant his name. And he’ll be draped in a robe, crown on his head, dancing his way to the ring with an entourage of gyrating women.
If it sounds a bit outrageous, that’s because it is.
“I get it from a little bit of everywhere,” Lawal said with a chuckle. “I got some of it from ‘Coming to America.’ I got some of it from a mafia documentary about this little mafia dude … he had an umbrella guy.
“The girls dancing … that just fits me because I like to be rhythmic when I go to the ring. And the rest of the stuff I got from pro wrestling.”
While the entrance may come off as a bit of a sideshow, Lawal’s skills dictate that he is no sideshow in the cage.
A 2003 Big 12 champion and Division I All-American in wrestling for Oklahoma State, he is arguably one of the best wrestlers in MMA. Lawal, who says that Daniel Cormier may be the only fighter in Strikeforce better than him on the ground, competed in Real Pro Wrestling, a professional wrestling (no, not the fake stuff) league that resembled freestyle wrestling. He was crowned the league’s champion in its only year of existence.
He spent three years as the top-ranked 84-kilogram wrestler in the United States, and it’s his explosiveness that has impressed thus far. In his five fights, Lawal has scored four TKOs, the last of which came in his U.S. MMA debut Aug. 28 against legend Mark Kerr at M-1 Global: Breakthrough in Kansas City. In that fight, Lawal slammed Kerr, took his back and pistoned in a series of hard shots, knocking Kerr’s mouthpiece out and across the ring. It took all of 25 seconds.
“I fight to do two things,” Lawal said. “I fight to win and have a good time. I try to end careers if I can.”
“The best way to win is by killing somebody out there,” he added. “I think if you kill somebody in the ring there is no discussion. That means you killed them. Can’t say it was an early stoppage.”
Pundits don’t expect the Whitehead fight to be so easy, although early lines had Lawal as a heavy favorite at -600. Whitehead (24-6) is a former cast member on the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Kevin Randleman in June. But Lawal, who said his inspiration to become a fighter growing up came from watching Kung Fu flicks, pro wrestling and Heathcliff cartoons (because he fought a lot), is confident that his biggest fight in the United States to date will go in his favor.
“A fight is a fight,” Lawal said. “He is solid. The reason that most people say that (he will be tough) is he was on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ TV show and he was in the UFC at one point, which means nothing to me. That don’t mean nothing to me. Everybody … people fight everywhere. My first fight was a guy that fought in the UFC.
“I feel like my standup ability against him will be good,” he added. “I’m not worried about what he can do. He’s just solid. I’m more dynamic and I feel like I have more tools. Where he is just real solid, he’s just hard-nosed … I feel like I have more ways I can win the fight.”
Brian Linder is the sports editor for The Times and Democrat in Orangeburg, S.C. Follow The T&D’s MMA coverage online at thetandd.com/mma.
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