'King Mo' Lawal represents Bellator in 8-man tourney at New Year's Eve Rizin card in Japan

Muhammed Lawal

ST. LOUIS – “King Mo” is headed back to Japan for New Year’s Eve in support of headliner Fedor Emelianenko at Rizin Fighting Federation’s first card.

Muhammed Lawal (16-4 MMA, 8-3 BMMA) will represent Bellator in an eight-man light heavyweight tournament at the event on Dec. 31 at Saitama Super Arena near Tokyo. Spike and Bellator officials made the announcement on Friday at Bellator 145 at Scotttrade Center in St. Louis.

No opponent for Lawal was announced, and the rest of the field is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Also announced for the card is a catchweight fight between Shinya Aoki and Kazushi Sakuraba. Plus, Brazilian jiu-jitsu standout Gabrielle Garcia will make her long-awaited MMA debut against pro wrestler “Queen of Rings” Lei’d Tapa.

The other organizations participating in the Rizin event include BAMMA, KSW, Bushido, Jungle Fight and Desert Force. Spike is the U.S. broadcast home of the event, and the Bellator broadcast team of Jimmy Smith and Sean Grande will be on the microphones in Japan.

At Bellator 142 in September, former PRIDE president Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced he will return to the world of MMA with the new promotion with Emelianenko in the main event. Lawal is the first Bellator fighter to be booked for the card.

Lawal, a former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion and two-time Bellator title challenger, got his pro MMA start in Japan with four wins under the World Victory Road banner in 2008-09, but hasn’t fought there since then. After a loss to Quinton Jackson in Bellator’s Season 10 light heavyweight tournament final in the promotion’s only pay-per-view event, Lawal has four straight wins. After back-to-back TKO wins over Dustin Jacoby and Joe Vedepo, he has decision wins over Cheick Kongo and, most recently, Linton Vassell at Bellator 142 in San Jose in September.

“When I go back to Japan, they’ll be calling em ‘King Mo-zilla’ when I finish that tournament,” Lawal said.

Emelianenko’s opponent has not yet been revealed. A rumored fight against one-fight kickboxer Jaideep Singh didn’t come to fruition.