Muhammed Lawal said he doesn’t view Bellator 142’s one-night light heavyweight tournament as the daunting task others have built it up to be.
The four-man tournament will see Lawal (15-4 MMA, 7-3 BMMA), Linton Vassell (15-4 MMA, 4-1 BMMA), Emmanuel Newton (25-8-1 MMA, 8-2 BMMA) and Phil Davis (13-3 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) compete for the right to be called No. 1 contender in the 205-pound weight class.
The winner will have to emerge victorious in two contests on a single night to make that happen.
Multiple fights on one night were common practice in the early years of the sport. But since sanctioning has become stricter and fighter safety a more prominent concern, the tournament format has fizzled out of top-tier organizations.
The Sept. 19 “Dynamite” event will change that, however. Bellator 142 takes place at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., and airs on Spike TV following prelims on MMAjunkie.
Although Lawal hasn’t been forced to endure multiple contests in a night since he started his MMA career in 2008, he’s well conditioned to such circumstances after years of amateur wrestling where he competed as many as five times at an event.
Lawal said that because of that experience the prospect of two fights is hardly intimidating.
“People make a big deal about it, but it’s just two fights; that’s all it is, two fights in one night ain’t nothing to worry about,” Lawal told MMAjunkie. “In wrestling I did five matches in one day, so it’s whatever. I’m preparing for whatever happens and I’m going to go out there and dominate.”
LINK: ‘King Mo’ Lawal doesn’t see Bellator 142 tourney as big deal: ‘It’s just two fights’ | MMAjunkie