"King Mo" Lawal Interview

King Mo Lawal talks Mousasi, Fedor, Anderson Silva and Sherdog quotes

King Mo is not your typical mixed-martial artist. He comes from, what is in MMA terms, a 'by-gone' era. Today, if a fighter jumps weight class or even cuts less weight than his opponent he is considered to be at a disadvantage. In the UFC’s infinite stages, there were no weight classes. Mo Lawal may just prefer that as he is willing to fight anyone, anytime with little or no consideration to weight. He stepped in the cage against Mike Whitehead on 12-19-09 giving up nearly forty pounds but that didn’t stop the King from getting the victory. Mo is an avid believer of changing up training camps by bringing guys in such as Fabricio Werdum and Minotauro Nogueira to help with all disciplines. King Mo states “you don’t get better by training with the same guys.” Mo took some time to speak with Scott Dryden, Editor-in-Chief of MMA news leader ProFighting-fans.com, regarding a host of things including his desire to face Gegard Mousasi and Fedor.

SD- Speak about your training camp and the gyms you prepared in for the fight against Mike Whitehead.

ML- It went great. I got what I needed wrestling-wise, boxing and kickboxing and grappling-wise. I had a great camp and a lot of great people around me.

SD- You are different from most fighters as you do not care about giving up weight. What did you weigh in for the Whitehead fight?

ML- I weighed in at 218lbs. But I was busy all day. I planned on weighing at 220 but I just didn’t.

King Mo (right) improved to 6-0 in his MMA career with a 1st round KO victory over Mike Whithead at Strikeforce: Evolution in December 2009.

SD- Your approach is certainly unique as most fighters usually cut a substantial amount of weight. Whitehead was much heavier than you. Speak about why you give that no consideration.

ML- It just doesn’t bother me. Yeah I gave up a lot of weight but that can either help you or hurt you. With Mike Whitehead, regardless of what the weight was I was going to be better. If he came in at 205 I would have been stronger, faster, still and in better condition. At his weight he gasses quicker but I was faster, stronger and in better condition. It really didn’t matter because I knew I was going to beat him. It’s all about skill-sets.

SD- You have competed in M-1 and Sengoku, talk about the difference of competing in the States for Strikeforce and being on Showtime.

ML- It didn’t really bother me at all in terms of nerves. To me it was just the same old thing.

SD- You are not really someone I would classify as a trash talker, but certainly a showmen. Talk about what you bring to the cage for the fans in each of your fights.

ML- I just try to do what makes me feel good. So many people out there are idiots. They say be humble and all that but they don’t know what the hell they are talking about. They talk about class and all that but how do you say that while people are clapping when someone is getting beat up. Like Sherdog was calling me a loud mouth and I was calling Fedor out and all that. If you listen to the interview I wasn’t calling Fedor out. I said if I was given the opportunity to fight him then I would take it. I would love to fight him. Who wouldn’t want to fight the best fighter in the world? I see it differently. I’m a fan of the sport and at the same time I’m a student of the sport. So many people think that just because there is a guy out there who is on a big winning streak that he is unbeatable. Guys like Mousasi, Anderson Silva and Fedor - you hear they are unbeatable but they are all beatable. I study my opponent and go out there and have a good time with it. I don’t worry about what others are doing I just worry about what I have to do.

> Follow the Strikeforce Miami results for the January 30 event here at ProFighting-fans.com and check the latest rumors and announcements for the April 17 Strikeforce on CBS fight card!

SD- You have a great opportunity as Strikeforce is growing by leaps and bounds and you are undefeated. You have the ability to fight in both the heavyweight and light heavyweight division. You mentioned a couple of guys that are in your sights - Gegard Mousasi and Fedor. By all accounts Mousasi is at the very least a top five light heavyweight in the world while Fedor is the best the sport has ever seen. Which would you prefer to face?

ML- It goes like this; Mousasi is a top five fighter, yes. But how much do the rankings really matter? If I were to beat him would that make me a top five fighter after just seven fights or would that mean he isn’t really that good? The sport of MMA has only been around the last 15-20 years and before that it was called Vale Tudo and Full Contact Cage Fighting. Since MMA hasn’t been around that long there could be someone out there who is going to be more phenomenal and we just don’t know who it is. But right now Fedor is the blueprint as is Anderson Silva of the next wave of great fighters. I’m not going to buy into all the rankings and all that; it really means nothing. I’ve started from the bottom and can tell you the rankings mean nothing.

Find great unique styles of MMA t-shirts & clothing online from Intimidation Clothing!

SD- You have a great wrestling base which history has proven is a great discipline to transition into MMA. However, not only are you a great wrestler but an explosive athlete on both your feet and on the ground. Speak about how your game has evolved from just wrestling.

ML- Yeah, wrestling helped me a lot. My style of wrestling was explosive. You have other wrestlers whose style was just position wrestling. I channel my explosiveness into power and endurance so I can be explosive throughout the wrestling match. It helped me in fights and helped me break down film.

SD- When do you think you will fight again and what is next for you?

ML- I’m not sure. I’m hoping it will be March/April against Mousasi or whoever. Really whoever Strikeforce wants to put me in there against but I’ll think it will be Mousasi. I sensed it will be Mousasi. There is one other time I sensed something like that and that was when I wrestled against Cale Sanderson. He beat me 3-1 and 7-4 or something like that. That was my first year out of college and I really thought I could beat him. Granted, he beat me but I went out there and wrestled my ass off. I still feel confident if we wrestled again I could get him but he was just better at that time. I have that same sense with Mousasi, when I’m around him I just feel like I could beat him. When I watch film on him I see holes in his game. I’m sure there are holes in my game as well but I think the holes in his game are much easier to exploit than the holes I have in my game.

SD- That would be a great fight Mo. I’m sure it will happen sooner or later. Best wishes Mo and we will stay in touch.

MO- Thanks Scott

By Scott Dryden
ProFighting-fans.com Editor in Chief