Muhammed Lawal[1] (born January 11, 1981), also known as "King Mo", is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship.
During his senior season Lawal went undefeated and became a Texas state champion after defeating 171 pound favorite Barrett Lidji.
He also competed in the newly formed Real Pro Wrestling league and became the champion of the 184 pound weight class in 2004.
[4] After narrowly missing entrance to the 2008 Olympics in a loss to Andy Hrovat, for which he was favored a spot, Lawal decided to enter the world of mixed martial arts.
[5][6] In his 2008 mixed martial arts debut at Sengoku 5, Lawal fought Travis Wiuff, a veteran of 66 fights at the time, knocking him out in the first round.
[7] On January 4, 2009, Lawal faced Yukiya Naito at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku no Ran 2009, defeating him in the first round with punches.
"[9] On August 28, 2009, Lawal fought for the first time on U.S. soil against Mark Kerr at M-1 Global Presents Breakthrough.
On December 19 at Strikeforce: Evolution Lawal fought Mike Whitehead, defeating him three minutes and eight seconds into round one via KO (punches).
On April 17, 2010, Lawal defeated Gegard Mousasi by unanimous decision to win the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship.
Lawal lost the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship in Houston Texas, on August 21, against Rafael Cavalcante by TKO due to punches and elbows of 1:14 of round 3.
[12] The fight was rescheduled for Strikeforce World Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov on Sept. 10, 2011, and Lawal won via KO in the first round.
Lawal garnered his second straight victory, defeating previously unbeaten Lorenz Larkin at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine via second-round KO.
[14] Lawal was released from Strikeforce following comments he made on Twitter regarding Pat Lundvall after his hearing for his drug test.
"[15][16] After the release, Lawal issued an apology to Lundvall, stating, "I was out of line for calling the woman the b-word and I was wrong for that.
"[17] On May 10, 2012, it was reported that Lawal had signed a contract with the mixed martial arts promotion Bellator Fighting Championships.
[18] On January 24, 2013, Lawal made his Bellator debut as a participant in the Season 8 light heavyweight tournament.
Despite being a considerable favorite, Lawal lost via KO due to a spinning back fist in the first round.
He won via TKO due to punches in round three to win the Bellator 2013 Summer Series light heavyweight tournament.
Lawal was expected to fight replacement Marcus Sursa at Bellator 123; however instead faced Dustin Jacoby.
[34][35] His first opponent was initially supposed to be BAMMA heavyweight champ Mark Godbeer, but he eventually faced Brett McDermott.
In the tournament finals, Lawal faced Jiří Procházka and won the fight via knockout in the first round.
On December 29, 2016, Lawal returned to Rizin FF as a participant in the Openweight Grand-Prix, replacing an injured Wanderlei Silva in a bout against Mirko Cro Cop.
Lawal spent a week at Ohio Valley Wrestling, WWE's developmental territory, before ultimately rejecting the contract offer, instead opting to pursue a career in mixed martial arts.
[38][42] Lawal stated that he expected to appear with TNA "two or three times a month or whenever they can book me" and that "if I have a fight coming up, I won't be doing shows or taping".
[40][43] In September 2012, it was reported that Lawal would train as a professional wrestler at Ohio Valley Wrestling, now TNA's developmental territory in Louisville, Kentucky.
[44] He went on to serve as a special guest enforcer for a street fight between Bobby Roode and James Storm at the Bound for Glory pay-per-view on October 14, 2012.
[50] He won his debut match for the promotion, which aired on their Thanksgiving episode of MLW Fusion via submission.