King Mo on Rampage: 'I Don't Like Him, He Don't Like Me'

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.

MMA Hour - Episode No. 105 - King Mo Lawal

MMA Fighting

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"[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.

Ben Fowlkes: 'King' Mo Lawal Talks 'Rampage' Jackson: We're Going to Fight Eventually

Now that "King" Mo Lawal is just a few months away from the end of his Strikeforce contract, he's begun to eye a future in the UFC and a potential opponent to start things off against.

Not surprisingly, that opponent is Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who enjoys poking fun at the man he calls "King Ho" in interviews, recently telling our own Ariel Helwani, "I'll fight that chump."

Lawal had it out with Jackson in a heated conversation captured on video two years ago, and the two have chipped away at each other several times since in interviews and over Twitter. Now Lawal says he'd like to meet Jackson at the UFC's event in Japan this February, when his Strikeforce contract is conveniently set to expire, but Jackson seems less thrilled about the prospect, according to Lawal.

"This fool Rampage calls me out, and then people get mad when I respond? He's a b---h in my eyes, because he didn't respond. Maybe he'll respond later, but the word is he wants to fight [Mauricio] 'Shogun' [Rua]. That's whatever. But he called me out, so I'm going to respond," Lawal told MMA Fighting.

As Lawal pointed out, Rua already has a fight scheduled with Dan Henderson for November. If Jackson really wants to fight in front of the Japanese fans when the UFC heads to Tokyo, he could do a lot worse than to take on Lawal, who also has a strong following across the Pacific.

But, Lawal insisted, he wouldn't even be setting his sights on Jackson if the former UFC champ hadn't taken a shot at him in a recent interview.

"When's the last time you heard me mention Rampage's name before he mentioned mine?" said Lawal. "I don't care about him. He wasn't even on my radar. But now, he wants to say something about me, he's on my radar now. We're going to bang eventually."

As for whether it will happen in Japan, and whether Lawal's next fight will really be in the UFC rather than Strikeforce, he admitted he had "no idea."

"Who knows? We'll see. My contract is up in February. ...I'd like to fight, but I have no idea."

King’s Corner: Lawal Talks Jones, Rampage, UFC 136 and more

In this video from Full Contact Fighter, STRIKEFORCE® light heavyweight superstar “King Mo” Lawal holds court, offering up his predictions for UFC 136 this Saturday, and looks down the road to UFC 139, scheduled for Nov. 19 in San Jose, Calif.
Lawal also responds to being named by an MMA fan/blogger to UFC President Dana White’s “hate list” and talks about his trip last weekend to Atlantic City, NJ, where Lawal went to support his friend, middleweight boxing contender Bryan Vera for Vera’s HBO televised bout with Andy Lee.

King Mo: I’m Not Afraid of Gracie At All

Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal barely got his throne warm before Rafael 'Feijao" Cavalcante stormed his castle.

The "King" was only king for four months before he was forced to hand over his light-heavyweight championship belt following a disappointing August 2010 loss – the first of his career.

A knee surgery, a long layoff and a fight postponement later, and here we stand.

Lawal (7-1 MMA, 2-1 SF) begins his comeback by facing Roger Gracie (4-0 MMA, 2-0 SF) on the Showtime-televised main card of "Strikeforce Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov." The event takes place Sept. 10 at U. S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati.

The pair originally was supposed to fight on July 30, but Gracie withdrew from the event due to an injury.

Both men finally appear to have put their respective health issues to bed for the time being.

"It feels good, man," Lawal told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "It's been a year since I've fought, so I got no injuries, no more. It's all good."

Once he was cleared to train following rehabilitation, Lawal decided to embrace his inner nomad for a few months.

He traveled to Holland to train alongside former kickboxing and Muay Thai world champion Tyrone Spong. While in Las Vegas, he worked with Xtreme Couture coach Ray Sefo, sought out multiple-time jiu-jitsu world champion Robert Drysdale, and studied the "sweet science" under the watchful eye of Floyd Mayweather Sr.

He finally settled in at American Kickboxing Academy for the meat and potatoes of his camp to prepare for Gracie.

All the planes, trains and automobiles necessary to seek out different training partners and coaches were well worth it, according to Lawal.

"It keeps your skill set fresh," he said. "You're constantly adding on, where some people stay in the same area and they don't really evolve. They stay stagnant. I'm always trying to look to improve."

The skills, techniques and philosophies he has incorporated along the way will serve him well both in this fight and beyond.

In a sport as fluid as MMA, continuous learning is a requisite for success.

Gracie is no different. He continues to show gainful improvements, most notably in the kickboxing department in his recent bouts.

"[His standup is] better than what I expected it to be," said Lawal, having seen tape on Gracie. "I thought it was going to be terrible. He came out throwing jabs and one-twos and teeps and some leg kicks. He's solid."

The general consensus, however, is that the fight will boil down to a specific battle within the war: whether or not Gracie can get the former Division I All-American and international-level wrestler Lawal to the mat in order to work his submission wizardry. If not, he'll be at a distinct disadvantage on the feet in terms of technique, speed and power.

Predictably, Lawal doesn't think Gracie will be able to do what's necessary to get him down.

"Maybe if I slip," Lawal said. "I don't know. I don't think so, but I can take him down. I'm not afraid of his jiu-jitsu at all. He has a great closed guard, but sometimes when you get hit, that guard opens up.

"I'm not worried about nothing. I'm just worried about making weight and getting to the fight. That's all."

With confidence bursting at the seams again, the loss to Cavalcante now seems to be nothing more than a distant memory for Lawal. The man has his swagger back.

"I know I'm going to win," he said. "I'm going to win the fight. I don't know if it's by stoppage or ground and pound, whatever. Hey, (maybe) even submission.

"Anything's possible, dog."

For more on "Strikeforce Grand Prix: Barnett vs. Kharitonov," stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site.

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King Mo talks about Strikeforce, UFC, and internet haters

Former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal shared his thoughts about various subjects; such as his future in Strikeforce, potential match-ups in the UFC, and everyone who hates him on Twitter. King Mo will fight Roger Gracie on September 10th.