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WHO IS KING MO?

Later today, both TNA Wrestling and Bellator Fighting Championships will announce that Muhammed Lawal, better known as King Mo, will sign an unheard of contract that will allow him to compete as a pro wrestler in TNA and an MMA fighter in Bellator. While the majority of MMA fans will already know who King Mo is, one could assume that many wrestling fans do not.

King Mo, before becoming a professional MMA fighter, was actually an excellent amateur wrestler, claiming three US National Championships (2005, 2006 & 2008). During his time as a wrestler in college, he was a Big 12 Conference Champion while at Oklahoma State and an NCAA Division II Champion at the University Of Central Oklahoma. It was after his career as an amateur wrestler came to an end that rumors began swirling that the WWE was interested in him, but nothing came of it at the time.

King Mo then turned his attention to mixed martial arts (MMA) in late 2008, first competing in the country of Japan. Sengoku would be the first promotion King Mo competed four and he did not take long to make his presence felt. In his first professional MMA fight, King Mo knocked out UFC veteran Travis Wiuff a little over two minutes into their fight.

North American MMA fans would get their first taste on King Mo in August 2009, when he headlined M-1 Global: Breakthrough in Missouri. This fight lead to King Mo getting signed by Strikeforce as he handily defeated UFC veteran Mark Kerr in just twenty five seconds. While his Strikeforce contract stipulated that he could return to Japan to compete in MMA, King Mo never did and he found plenty of success in Strikeforce.

In just his second fight in Strikeforce, King Mo pulled a major upset by defeating Gegard Mousasi by unanimous decision to win the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Title. The success would be short lived though because Rafael Cavalcante would take the gold from King Mo in his first title defense. King Mo, after healing from a knee injury, returned to action in September 2011 to defeat Roger Gracie by knockout.

It would be his next fight, a then victory over Lorenz Larkin at Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine in January 2012 that would be his undoing with Strikeforce. Following the victory, it was revealed by the NSAC that King Mo tested positive for banned substances during and his victory over Lorenz Larkin would be changed to a no contest. That would be the final time King Mo competed in Strikeforce, because a Twitter post about his controversial meeting with the NSAC, mainly Pat Lundvall, would lead to his release from the promotion. King Mo stated that he felt disrespected during the hearing because Pat Lundvall asked him “Do you speak English?” and “Can you read?”

During all of the controversy, King Mo would get a staph infection from a post-fight knee surgery that nearly ended his life. After a long struggle, King Mo has now defeated the infection and now must sit out the remainder of his NSAC suspension, which is expected to end on October 7th. Then earlier today on PWinsiderXtra.com, yours truly posted the article stating that King Mo would be signing with both TNA Wrestling and Bellator in a monumental moment for both sports.

So for those who may ask “who is King Mo?”…your answer is above.

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