'King Mo' could be next face of Strikeforce

Muhammed Lawal stands at the top of his division as Strikeforce light heavyweight champion after a phenomenal rise since his debut in September 2008. With a 7-0 record, Lawal had the greatest night of his young career in April when he defeated highly regarded kickboxer Gegard Mousasi at Strikeforce’s second network special.

The young Californian was able to repeatedly take Mousasi down and control him on the ground, earning a unanimous decision victory. With Lawal scheduled to defend his title against Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante this Saturday on Strikeforce: Houston, Inside Fights' Will Cooling and Shawn Smith look at whether the self-styled "King Mo" can rule at 205 pounds.

Will Cooling: Lawal’s key strength is obviously wrestling, with his double-leg takedowns surely being too much for any of his competitors at Strikeforce. His top-game is excellent as well, with Lawal having the strength to manhandle his opponents and the awareness to avoid being caught in a submission.

Shawn Smith: Mousasi looked flat, for sure, but I have long thought that he was undersized at 205. Not sure if he’s someone that could cut easily to get down to middleweight, but to be frank, Lawal just looked bigger. Couple that with a strong wrestling pedigree and there really wasn’t much to do. I like “King Mo.” He’s charismatic, and if they could just figure out how, I really do think that he could be a solid face for Strikeforce as they continue to grow. Seeing him front and center on the Strikeforce: Houston poster proves that they learned from their mistakes with Jake Shields and will promote their young champs. The big question mark with his skill set is whether he’s had enough time to develop an adequate level of striking to fight among the top light heavyweights, or if he would have to rely mainly on his wrestling to keep the contest in his favor.

Will Cooling: While I agree that Lawal’s standup has shown significant improvement, what frustrates me is that he’s not using it to properly setup his takedowns. If you look at George St-Pierre and Randy Couture, they’ve developed the ability to use their striking to put their opponent off balance to minimize the effort and risk involved in committing to a takedown. Lawal doesn’t do this, and it means that too often he takes unnecessary damage, even if he successfully gets the fight to the ground.

Shawn Smith: Mousasi, while a great Sambo fighter, really isn’t much of a striker. Even with a few previous knockouts, I really don’t think of him as “Gegard Mousasi: Knockout King.” That made the fight pretty simple for King Mo to game plan for. He merely had to use his strong takedowns and learn to stay away from some pretty slick submissions and hope that the damage he’d inflict by making Mousasi carry his weight around would be enough to work for him. It worked and won him the title via decision. I just don’t know if that’s going to be enough against Feijao. He didn’t seem to have another game plan if things didn’t work, and I think that Feijao just has more tools at this time.

Will Cooling: I think you’re right to highlight Lawal’s failure to think on his feet in April and react to a situation as it developed, but I think that’s one part of the wider issues surrounding his mental toughness. We have never really seen him tested in a fight, and so we have no way of knowing how he would react to adversity. What we do know is that he was never able to fulfill his potential as a member of the U.S. wrestling team, failing to qualify to compete at both the 2007 world championships and the 2008 Olympics. Both times he lost in the final tryout, despite being the heavy favorite. If Lawal is to make the most of his undoubted talents, then he is going to need the steely discipline that all champions possess.