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I've loved Rizin since the day it started, and I've always been fascinated by what it brings to MMA in presentation and performances. I've been rewatching Rizin events and decided to bite the bullet and write about the first two events, the nights where King Mo looked better than ever.
I posted this originally on Blogspot: http://rizintoughboys.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-nights-king-mo-was-immortal.html
Because of Sherdog rules, I can't post the article in it's entirety as it's gif heavy, but there are a ton of gifs from Mo's rizin fights there.
Tell me what you think!
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Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal is a confusing figure in the sport of MMA. On one hand, he has one of the most underrated resumes in the game, debuting against 54-11 streaking YAMMA Champion Travis Wiuff, beating former best heavyweight on the planet Mark Kerr when he was 4-0, defeating DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix Champion Gegard Mousasi for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship at merely 6-0, knocking out all time great grappler Roger Gracie, handing him his first loss in MMA, beating longtime UFC Heavyweight Cheick Kongo, solid light heavyweight fighters like Mikhail Zayats (22-7) and Jacob Noe (12-2). On the other hand, he holds some of the most embarrassing losses, losing the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight championship to Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante in his first title defense, losing in the Bellator Season 8 Light Heavyweight tournament to unknown Emmanual Newton due to dramatic spinning backfist, losing a rematch to Newton, going life and death with a far past prime Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, all while showing an inconsistent grasp on techniques he will use in his dramatic wins. This is the defining legacy of King Mo: He will pick up techniques and approaches along the way, winning in emphatic fashion and proceeding to seemingly forget to use those, losing to people he should beat.
This seemed to change after his loss to Quinton Jackson. While many (Including myself) believed that King Mo should have won the decision, it was clear that the King Mo gambit had run its course. Now 12-4, 34 years old, clearly inferior to then Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Emmanual Newton, the newfound boxing ability had been replaced by tentative nerves, wrestling ability inconsistent from fight to fight, with his loss to Rampage, it stopped being fun to follow King Mo. He wasn't the chosen one to lead Bellator's Light Heavyweight division, he wasn't even the one to play second fiddle to the one. After losing to Rampage, King Mo went on a 2 fight win streak against Dustin Jacoby and Joe Vedepo before being booked against Cheick Kongo. 22-9, 4-1 in Bellator, longtime fringe top 10 UFC Heavyweight, it was something interesting for King Mo, beyond the realm of the division he had failed in against a larger man, it was something he hadn't done since before he debuted in Strikeforce. It was reminiscent of his Sengoku days, fighting larger men who were far more experienced than himself, but overcoming them through superior ability. King Mo was able to outwrestle the larger Kongo, and suddenly, we had a King Mo on a winning streak, and a different Bellator Light Heavyweight Division waiting for him. The same night Mo beat Kongo, Emmanual Newton had lost the Bellator Light Heavyweight Championship to 9-0 Liam McGeary. Almost like it was destiny, consensus top 10 Light Heavyweight Phil Davis left the UFC and joined Bellator. The dominos were lining up for the fallen king to regain the spot that was taken from him so many times - to become Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion while beating respected top fighter Phil Davis in the process. This opportunity would be obliged at Bellator: Dynamite, a lovechild of Scott Coker, King Mo's Strikeforce promoter. Coker introduced the first one night tournament since YAMMA (Won by Travis Wiuff, by the way), featuring Linton Vassell, 15-4 respectable fighter who came within a hair of beating Emmanuel Newton himself, Phil Davis, 13-3 fighter coming from the UFC ranked just outside of the top 5 of the division, Emmanuel Newton, the former champion trying to regain glory, and King Mo, a man denied his right to be a champion. To win this one night tournament and face Liam Mcgeary, he would need to beat Linton Vassell and the winner of Davis vs Newton.
Mo vs Vassell was a drubbing. In classic King Mo fashion, he showed up with hands he hadn't shown since his debut in Bellator - throwing Vassell around the cage with seemingly every punch. Mo picked up a unanimous decision, looking incredible in the process while Davis manhandled Mo's eternal foil in Newton. The stage was set for King Mo vs Phil Davis, but tragedy struck when King Mo was revealed to have hurt himself in the violent bashing of Vassell. Once again, King Mo had to watch from the sidelines as Phil Davis won the Light Heavyweight Tournament, a spot almost reserved for him. His heart broken, he saw opportunity where he had begun - Rizin Fighting Federation, Japanese MMA's resuscitation, was holding a Grand Prix over the course of two nights. Light Heavyweights from all around the world contested at 220 pounds and King Mo was selected as Bellator's representative. It was a true act of poetry; Fights contested at heavyweight in Japan in a tournament representing Bellator. This tournament represented the beginning of Mo's career as a heavyweight in Japan, it represented his failures to represent Bellator in the past as well as being unable to compete in a tournament, and it represented his modern incarnation, skilled and focused. He could wrestle as displayed against Kongo, he could box as displayed with Vassell, it was time for King Mo to fight young, hungry fighters who would love to make their name off of King Mo as Emmanual Newton had. It had culminated to December 29th and 31st 2015: The Nights King Mo Was Immortal.
I posted this originally on Blogspot: http://rizintoughboys.blogspot.com/2017/10/the-nights-king-mo-was-immortal.html
Because of Sherdog rules, I can't post the article in it's entirety as it's gif heavy, but there are a ton of gifs from Mo's rizin fights there.
Tell me what you think!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal is a confusing figure in the sport of MMA. On one hand, he has one of the most underrated resumes in the game, debuting against 54-11 streaking YAMMA Champion Travis Wiuff, beating former best heavyweight on the planet Mark Kerr when he was 4-0, defeating DREAM Middleweight Grand Prix Champion Gegard Mousasi for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship at merely 6-0, knocking out all time great grappler Roger Gracie, handing him his first loss in MMA, beating longtime UFC Heavyweight Cheick Kongo, solid light heavyweight fighters like Mikhail Zayats (22-7) and Jacob Noe (12-2). On the other hand, he holds some of the most embarrassing losses, losing the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight championship to Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante in his first title defense, losing in the Bellator Season 8 Light Heavyweight tournament to unknown Emmanual Newton due to dramatic spinning backfist, losing a rematch to Newton, going life and death with a far past prime Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, all while showing an inconsistent grasp on techniques he will use in his dramatic wins. This is the defining legacy of King Mo: He will pick up techniques and approaches along the way, winning in emphatic fashion and proceeding to seemingly forget to use those, losing to people he should beat.
This seemed to change after his loss to Quinton Jackson. While many (Including myself) believed that King Mo should have won the decision, it was clear that the King Mo gambit had run its course. Now 12-4, 34 years old, clearly inferior to then Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion Emmanual Newton, the newfound boxing ability had been replaced by tentative nerves, wrestling ability inconsistent from fight to fight, with his loss to Rampage, it stopped being fun to follow King Mo. He wasn't the chosen one to lead Bellator's Light Heavyweight division, he wasn't even the one to play second fiddle to the one. After losing to Rampage, King Mo went on a 2 fight win streak against Dustin Jacoby and Joe Vedepo before being booked against Cheick Kongo. 22-9, 4-1 in Bellator, longtime fringe top 10 UFC Heavyweight, it was something interesting for King Mo, beyond the realm of the division he had failed in against a larger man, it was something he hadn't done since before he debuted in Strikeforce. It was reminiscent of his Sengoku days, fighting larger men who were far more experienced than himself, but overcoming them through superior ability. King Mo was able to outwrestle the larger Kongo, and suddenly, we had a King Mo on a winning streak, and a different Bellator Light Heavyweight Division waiting for him. The same night Mo beat Kongo, Emmanual Newton had lost the Bellator Light Heavyweight Championship to 9-0 Liam McGeary. Almost like it was destiny, consensus top 10 Light Heavyweight Phil Davis left the UFC and joined Bellator. The dominos were lining up for the fallen king to regain the spot that was taken from him so many times - to become Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion while beating respected top fighter Phil Davis in the process. This opportunity would be obliged at Bellator: Dynamite, a lovechild of Scott Coker, King Mo's Strikeforce promoter. Coker introduced the first one night tournament since YAMMA (Won by Travis Wiuff, by the way), featuring Linton Vassell, 15-4 respectable fighter who came within a hair of beating Emmanuel Newton himself, Phil Davis, 13-3 fighter coming from the UFC ranked just outside of the top 5 of the division, Emmanuel Newton, the former champion trying to regain glory, and King Mo, a man denied his right to be a champion. To win this one night tournament and face Liam Mcgeary, he would need to beat Linton Vassell and the winner of Davis vs Newton.
Mo vs Vassell was a drubbing. In classic King Mo fashion, he showed up with hands he hadn't shown since his debut in Bellator - throwing Vassell around the cage with seemingly every punch. Mo picked up a unanimous decision, looking incredible in the process while Davis manhandled Mo's eternal foil in Newton. The stage was set for King Mo vs Phil Davis, but tragedy struck when King Mo was revealed to have hurt himself in the violent bashing of Vassell. Once again, King Mo had to watch from the sidelines as Phil Davis won the Light Heavyweight Tournament, a spot almost reserved for him. His heart broken, he saw opportunity where he had begun - Rizin Fighting Federation, Japanese MMA's resuscitation, was holding a Grand Prix over the course of two nights. Light Heavyweights from all around the world contested at 220 pounds and King Mo was selected as Bellator's representative. It was a true act of poetry; Fights contested at heavyweight in Japan in a tournament representing Bellator. This tournament represented the beginning of Mo's career as a heavyweight in Japan, it represented his failures to represent Bellator in the past as well as being unable to compete in a tournament, and it represented his modern incarnation, skilled and focused. He could wrestle as displayed against Kongo, he could box as displayed with Vassell, it was time for King Mo to fight young, hungry fighters who would love to make their name off of King Mo as Emmanual Newton had. It had culminated to December 29th and 31st 2015: The Nights King Mo Was Immortal.
