SANTA MONICA, Calif. – It doesn’t take long to figure out where you stand with Muhammed Lawal. The former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion, known in MMA circles by his nickname “King Mo,” is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve.
His friends in the business – like UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler, who had Lawal corner him for his UFC 195 title defense against Carlos Condit – swear by Lawal and his loyalty.
But he’s also made his share of enemies. Ask him about fellow Bellator light heavyweight Tito Ortiz, for example, and Lawal won’t hesitate to tell you what he thinks of the MMA legend.
“He’s a [expletive],” Lawal said of Ortiz. “He said, ‘I don’t want to fight you because you’re not a name. I don’t want to fight you because you’re ghetto.’ OK, I went to college, and you want to fight Kimbo [Slice]. You tell me who’s ghetto? I’m winning fights. He’s won two fights in 10 years. Don’t talk about me, worry about yourself.”
During his three years in Bellator, Lawal has gotten into it with everyone from Ortiz to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to Emanuel Newton.
So the fact he’s got nothing bad to say about his next big foe, Phil Davis, is noteworthy in and of itself.
Davis and Lawal will tangle in the main event of Bellator 154 on May 14 at San Jose’s SAP Center. The card runs head-to-head against UFC 198, which is headlined by Fabrcio Werdum vs. Stipe Miocic.
And while both fighters are able to hold their own in verbal altercations, they’ve also gotten along fine so far, to the point Bellator had the duo do a recent two-day stint of media appearances up and down California.
“There will be animosity when the cage closes,” Lawal said. “But I like Phil. In MMA, you need two. Without an opponent you don’t have a fight. Why would I want to hurt you before the fight? If I hurt you, guess what, I’m not getting paid. I want you to be healthy. Train smart. Train hard. Don’t get hurt, please don’t get hurt. Don’t do anything crazy, because we both want to get paid."
Davis, for his part, sees the fight as an extension of the collegiate wrestling fraternity culture. Elite grapplers train together, travel together and then go out to compete against one another. Davis was an NCAA Division I wrestling champion at Penn State, while Lawal was a Division II champion at Central Oklahoma before transferring to Oklahoma State and earning Division 1 All-America status.
“We go way back," Davis said. “That’s part of wrestling culture, sitting next to a guy, training with him, once you get out there, it's, you act like strangers. You’re like strangers under the bright lights. Go in the back? Hey, 'good match,’ ‘good fight,’ whatever. You know? When you put yourself at odds with another person, you make yourself incapable of seeing their point of view, and understanding why they are the way they are. You got a family, you want a car and a house and a nest egg and this and that. But guess what? I want that too.”
The matchup between Davis and Lawal was expected to take place last Sept. 19 during Bellator: Dynamite 1 at the same SAP Center, as both were entered in the four-man, one-night light heavyweight elimination tournament.
Both fighters did their part in the opening round, as Lawal took a one-sided decision from an overmatched Linton Vassell, while Davis submitted Newton in the opening round of their fight.
Lawal, however, had to pull out of the tournament final because of a rib injury suffered against Vassell. Davis went on to knock out substitute Francis Carmont in the tourney final, capping his debut night in Bellator after a much-heralded jump from the UFC.
For his part, Lawal remains defensive to criticism about pulling out of the fight. When asked about it, Lawal insisted that I touch his rib cage, and when I resisted, Lawal grabbed my hand and put it on a gnarly lump of cartilage that still protrudes from his lower right rib cage seven months after the initial injury.
“That’s my rib,” Lawal said. “Everyone goes, ‘Oh you pulled out.’ My [expletive] was broke. If there was any way I could have fought, I would have fought. I’m not afraid of nobody. The fight’s going to happen and I’m going to win.”
Indeed, there’s a lot on the line for Lawal. He arrived in Bellator amid much fanfare in 2013, but since then, fighters like Davis and newer arrivals like Benson Henderson and Matt Mitrione have taken some of his shine.
But while the others have reveled in the hype, Lawal has quietly put together a six-fight win streak, including three victories over the span of 48 hours in RIZIN's New Year’s Eve tournament.
With a victory over Davis in a main-event spotlight, Lawal would remind the world that he was in Bellator well before Davis, or Ortiz, or Rampage, and he’s still the one to beat.
And that’s enough to get him to drop the niceties when it’s time to step in the cage.
“You fight for every inch, every day, that’s what I do in training camp, that’s what I did in the cage,” Lawal said. "Any animosity is reserved for fight night. Outside that, Phil’s a good dude. I don’t hate Phil but we’re both going after the same thing.”
