Injuries continue to plague Muhammed Lawal, this time forcing him out of his Bellator 185 co-main event with Liam McGeary later this month.
Lawal (21-6 MMA, 10-4 BMMA) has been forced to pull out of his light-heavyweight matchup with McGeary (12-2 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) at Bellator 185 due to an undisclosed injury, a Bellator official today told MMAjunkie. The organization is seeking a replacement to step in for “King Mo.”
Bellator 185 takes place Oct. 20 at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. The main card airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.
After fighting eight times between 2015-2016, this year has been rather unkind to Lawal. The 36-year-old picked up a unanimous-decision winover Quinton Jackson at Bellator 185 in March, but the former Strikeforce champion and Rizin FF heavyweight grand-prix winner hasn’t fought since then.
Lawal was scheduled to meet Ryan Bader at Bellator 180 in June, but he was forced to withdraw due to an injury. It’s unknown if his latest injury is related to the one that prevented him from fighting Bader.
That leaves McGeary without an opponent – something that has become a familiar situation for the 34-year-old Brit. The former Bellator titleholder went through three different opponents before beating Brett McDermott at Bellator 173 in February. He had no opponent switches for a Bellator 179 fight with Linton Vassell in May, but he came out on the losing end of that contest via third-round submission.
With Lawal’s withdrawal, the latest Bellator 185 card includes:
- Gegard Mousasi vs. Alexander Shlemenko
- Liam McGeary vs. TBA
- David Rickels vs. Brennan Ward
- Heather Hardy vs. Kristina Williams
- Ryan Quinn vs. Marcus Surin
- Steve Skrzat vs. Costello Van Steenis
- Alec Hooben vs. Jordan Young
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