Despite their penchant for professional wrestling, the animosity between Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson is real, according to Lawal. "I don't like him, he don't like me!" the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Lawal stated Monday on The MMA Hour.
Lawal hasn't taken too kindly to being called "Queen Mo" in various interviews by Jackson and named two specific incidents where he was left with a poor impression by the former UFC light heavyweight titleholder.
Lawal recalled an early meeting when they met through Antonio McKee while attending an August 2008 fight card in Santa Monica, Calif. Lawal claims Jackson played up his personality when a camera was around and in the process tried to "punk" him.
Another incident involved Jackson doing an appearance for a MMA card in Oklahoma City. At the time Lawal's friend Gerald Harris was accompanying Jackson and asked Lawal as a favor to find women for Jackson. Lawal agreed, but when the two parties met up at a club after the fights, Lawal's friendly gesture apparently went unappreciated.
"[Rampage] had audacity to kick out my homeboys out of a V.I.P. spot. I wasn't having that," said Lawal.
Coming off a first-round knockout over Roger Gracie at the Sept. 10 Strikeforce event, Lawal (8-1) has been training at the American Kickboxing Academy as he awaits his next fight. The December Strikeforce card is a possibility only if Lawal is offered a big name opponent. A rematch with Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante would have been a suitable opponent for Lawal, but Cavalcante is unavailable due to injury. Lawal's contract with Strikeforce comes to an end in February.
The next fight that makes the most sense then would be against his rival Jackson. While Lawal admits he wants to fight Jackson on a UFC card, he also insists Jackson is the one doing the provoking.
"People saying I'm calling him out, [but] anytime you take somebody's name and give them a female name, that's calling them out," Lawal said.
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