‘King Mo’ talks Rizin, Free Agency, Brain Trauma, & more ahead of Bellator 154
Josh ConnorMay 13, 2016
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"King Mo" Lawal (Photo Credit: Venom Fight Team)
This Saturday evening in San Jose inside a SAP Center chock-full of anticipation,
“King Mo” Lawal (19-4) will take one step closer to his shot at Bellator light heavyweight gold as he faces off with
UFC veteran
Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis (15-3). Riding the momentum of an impressive
Rizin Heavyweight World Grand Prix tournament victory where he defeated three world-class opponents in the span of two days, the former
Strikeforce light heavyweight champion looks to continue his accent and keep stacking MMA accolades well into 2016.
Before Mo takes the center of the Bellator cage however,
MMABro caught up with him to discuss a number of topics ahead of his number one contender bout which will undoubtedly see the victor face current champion Liam McGeary for the next opportunity to challenge for the 205 pound strap.
In reflecting on his impressive Rizin tournament performance, Mo clearly is proud of the accomplishment and $300,000 tournament purse he captured, but for now, his focus lies solely on Phil Davis and not resting on the laurels of his past accomplishments.
“I never put rankings on things because my career is not over you know what I am saying. I’ll worry about that when my career is all said and done. I was back at home man just having fun. Japan is where I first started my career, and I just tried to go out there and show my ass to the crowd. That’s about it. Really, [I enjoyed] the whole show. Getting the W [and] knocking that dude out. The thing is I’ve been to Japan and done Japan before. For me, more than anything it was the fights. There were some good fights on that card. It was a mixture of the pageantry and the good card.”
One aspect Mo did enjoyed on the Rizin trip was the ability to utilize wrestling shoes inside the Rizin ring. While not originally planning to do so, Mo took the advice of legendary MMA fighter and wrestler
Mark Coleman to wear the shoes and represent the wrestling spirit and mentality in front of the jam-packed Saitama Super Arena.
“For the most part, I trained bare footed for the whole camp. I bring my wrestling shoes wherever I go in case I want to hit mitts. And
Mark Coleman was like, ‘You bring your wrestling shoes? You’re a wrestler. Wear them. Show the wrestler spirit. At least wear them your first fight.’ It was Mark Coleman, the godfather of ground and pound, so I was like, ‘You know what, I am going to listen to him.’ So I did it and just kept them on, and I felt good man.”
When queried if Mo intends to sign a Rizin contract in addition to his Bellator contract as we have seen with Wanderlei Silva, “King Mo” hadn’t given too much concern to the idea.
“I haven’t thought about none of that. I’m just worrying about Phil Davis. I haven’t thought anything about Rizin until they reach out to contact me. I can’t trip destiny and be like, ‘Rizin, sign me.’ ”
As to where Bellator fans can expect to see improvements in “moneyweight” Mo’s MMA game on fight night, he feels is constantly improving in all facets of his skills and continues to get better and better with each passing fight.
“I feel like I improve all around every fight. Wrestling, ground, stand-up, conditioning. I get better with every fight. I’ve built up an arsenal. If you want to find out, you better tune in to the fight May 14th.”
With weigh-ins for the fight today at 8 p.m. ET inside the SAP Center (streaming live on MMABro), Mo concedes that this is the point where he finally allows himself to get excited about the fight.
“No fight raises my pulse. Truth be told, here is how it goes. My pulse raises at weigh-ins. My thing is I sign the fight, ok good. Going through camp and no one has pulled out, good. Weigh-ins my heart raises two beats. I’m like, ‘Ok, it’s definitely going to happen.’ That is when I get excited.”
With Bellator recently making a number of bold free agency acquisitions to include
Benson Henderson,
Sergei Kharitonov,
Phil Davis, and
Matt Mitrione, Mo also shared his thoughts on how Bellator is changing the MMA fight game by putting fighters first.
“I think the more options fighters have the better. Fighters everywhere hit me up. They ask on both sides [UFC and Bellator]. I’ve seen Bellator fighters ask about the UFC, and UFC fighters ask about Bellator. They need to know where they can get money at because not everyone is in the same situation. There will be guys who can make more money in the UFC. Then, there will be some guys who can probably make more money from Bellator. It depends on how needs what and how you are marketing.”
“I think we are all the face of “Fighters First”. When [Bellator] say “Fighters First”, it’s about respect because they know without the fighters there is no fighting. Without us, there are no high level fights. So, I like the fact that they give us respect. Some people are like, ‘Without the organization, you can’t fight.’ No, we can fight in the street. We can fight in someone’s back yard. We will find ways to make money. Without high level fighters, you don’t have a big special show. I feel like they give us respect and our just due. I like that.”
“
Bellator 154: Davis vs. King Mo,” airs live on
SPIKE at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT while the
preliminary card will stream live on Bellator.com and The Bellator Mobile App beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.
Fighter Quick Takes:
Where his next “moneyweight” fight will be: “I think my next moneyweight fight is probably at heavyweight.”
Brain trauma and MMA: “I don’t think about that. I don’t worry about head trauma because I don’t get hit much. It’s part of the fight game. You can’t worry about that. It is the fight game. If you don’t want head trauma, then get out. It’s like me saying I’m a football player that is worried about head trauma. Then, why am I going to play football?”
Ben Henderson-Andrey Koreshkov Fight: “First, I think Benson Henderson is a good 155 pounder. He went up which I respect that. He went out there and fought hard. I respect that. He’s just too small is what it comes down to.”
Conor McGregor-UFC Drama: “I don’t care because I’m not in the UFC. I don’t really worry about the UFC.”
Signing with Venom: “I’m grateful to be on the Venom Fight Team. They have great gear, great clothes. I feel honored to be brought on. For me, it gives me a chance to showcase what I can do in their attire.”
