Bellator's 'King Mo' Lawal expects to meet Amir Aliakbari in Rizin FF tournament final

Muhammed Lawal is suddenly a very busy man, but that’s the way he likes it.

Not long after beating Satoshi Ishii at Bellator 169 this past weekend (check out the highlights of that win above), “King Mo” signed on to replace the injured Wanderlei Silva opposite Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic for the Rizin FF open-weight world grand prix.

No official reason was given for Silva’s withdrawal, but Lawal (20-5) said it was related to a bike accident in May that left the veteran with an injured shoulder and knee. He shared a conversation with Silva (35-12-1) about his replacement and said the former PRIDE champ encourage him to call out Filipovic (32-11-2).

“He’s still injured,” Lawal told MMAjunkie Radio. “He’s healing up, but he’s not Wanderlei- Wanderlei. He will be if you give him a little more time, but I think he’s still beat up.”

Filipovic was not as understanding about the withdrawal, and Silva promised physical retribution when the two met. Lawal isn’t looking for payback – he expects “The Axe Murderer” to follow through on his words.

“Wanderlei’s a man, so he’s going to do it himself,” he said. “He isn’t going to say nobody is going to do it – he’s going to do it himself.”

After a loss to current Bellator light heavyweight champ Phil Davis, “King Mo” wanted not only to get back to the win column, but fight a more active schedule. So he didn’t balk when Rizin offered him a spot in the tournament, which takes place over two days around New Year’s Eve.

“My main goal, if I can get six fights, I’ll love it,” Lawal said. “Minimum five fights a year. I asked for ‘Cro Cop.’ I could have been like, ‘I’ll do it if they redraw the bracket,’ but why? Everybody is training for their opponent.”

The open-weight tourney’s open round takes place at Rizin FF 3 on 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.

For MMA observers who might dismiss his fight with Filipovic as an easy style matchup, given that he’s a stronger wrestler and could thus dictate where the action goes. To the people who think he will stand with Filipovic, he asks, “Well, would you want to stand with him?”

But then there’s the possibility that it’s not that open and shut.

“It’s MMA, and ‘Cro Cop,’ he’s not that easy to take down, especially in a ring,” Lawal said. “It’s easier taking people down in a cage than a ring. But I can mix it up on him.

“Obviously, I have to watch out for the left kick, body or head kick, but I can nullify that. I’ve got longer reach than him, so I can actually jab with him and touch his body. I’ve just got to keep him guessing, more than anything.

“I like challenges. My thing is that I like to box, so I’m going to box with him. If the takedown is there, I’m going to take him down. If the takedown isn’t there, I’m going to continue to box with him.”

Among the tourney’s other brackets is a fight between UFC and PRIDE vet Heath Herring (28-14) versus Amir Aliakbari (3-0). Herring hasn’t fought since 2008, when he was outpointed by Brock Lesnar at UFC 87. A former sumo wrestling champion, Kaido Hoovelson (2-0) meets Tsuyoshi Kosaka (27-18-2), and Fedor Emelianenko protege Valentin Moldavsky (5-0) meets KSW vet Szymon Bajor (16-6).

Lawal favors the less-experienced Aliakbari to meet him in the finals. And while he can’t predict whether he’ll need a few minutes to get there, or 15, he expects to close out 2016 on a three-fight winning streak.

For more on the upcoming MMA schedule, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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