'King Mo' vs. 'Cro Cop,' Heath Herring vs. Amir Aliakbari slated for Rizin FF 3 grand prix

Two notable names are late additions to the upcoming continuation of the Rizin FF open-weight world grand prix.

Bellator veteran Muhammed Lawal (20-5) has stepped in as a replacement for recently scratched Wanderlei Silva (35-12-1) and will fight Mirko Filipovic (32-11-2). Additionally, former UFC and PRIDE fighter Heath Herring (28-14), who hasn’t fought since 2008, has replaced Shane Carwin (12-2) and will fight Amir Aliakbari (3-0) in another quarterfinal-round matchup at the upcoming Rizin FF 3 event.

Rizin FF officials confirmed the matchups today when contacted by MMAjunkie.

“King Mo” Lawal, who’s spent the majority of his career at light heavyweight, defeated heavyweight Satoshi Ishii this past Friday in Bellator 169’s headliner. After the Dublin show, Bellator officials announced Lawal would be part of the Rizin FF tournament field, though his opponent wasn’t disclosed. Additionally, BloodyElbow.com today first reported that Herring, who’s done commentary work for Rizin FF broadcasts, had also joined the tournament field, though an opponent wasn’t disclosed.

The bouts join previously announced quarterfinal-round matchups set for Rizin FF 3, which takes place Dec. 29 at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Two days later, on New Year’s Eve, the semifinal round and tournament final take place at the same venue as part of Rizin FF 4.

The 14-man, 16-slot openweight tournament (Silva and Carwin – and thus Lawal and Herring – received first-round byes) kicked off on Sept. 25 at Rizin FF 2.

Lawal is on an 8-1 run, which included winning Rizin FF’s world heavyweight grand prix in 2015, heading into his fight with Mirko “Cro Cop,” who recently ended his retirement to defeat Hyun Man Myung in a Rizin FF opening-round tournament fight. The former PRIDE great is now on a 4-0 run since 2014.

Herring, meanwhile, hasn’t fought since UFC 87, where he suffered a unanimous-decision loss to Brock Lesnar. However, the former PRIDE title challenger and fan favorite didn’t confirm his retirement until a few years later. The 38-year-old now ends that retirement and meets Aliakbari, a 29-year-old Iranian and standout Greco-Roman wrestler who’s won all three of his MMA bouts via TKO since a 2015 pro debut.

Other grand-prix matchups include former sumo wrestling champion and super heavyweight Kaido Hoovelson (2-0) vs. Tsuyoshi Kosaka (27-18-2). Additionally, sambo champion and Fedor Emelianenko protege Valentin Moldavsky (5-0) meets KSW vet Szymon Bajor (16-6).

In the Dec. 31 semifinals, the “Cro Cop”-Lawal winner faces the Hoovelson-Kosaka winner, and the Herring-Aliakbari winner meets the Moldavsky-Bajor winner.

For more on the upcoming MMA schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.