Roger Gracie Admits Momentary Lapse Cost Him Fight With ‘King Mo’ Lawal

With a minute left in the first round of bout with former Strikeforce light heavyweight title holder Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal last weekend, ADCC submission champ Roger Gracie (4-1) felt that he could begin to relax a little. It was a mistake that cost him the fight, and not one he intends to make again.
Gracie admits that letting down his guard was the first of two mistakes against Lawal, one that led to him suffering his first pro-mma loss, a knockout at last weekends Strikforce: Barnett vs. Kharitonov event in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The ADCC champ talks to Tatame.com about his loss to ‘King Mo’ and his decision to focus on mixed martial arts rather than attend the next ADCC event later this month in England.

“I couldn’t do what I have trained to do back then. I believed in my jab and he (King Mo) wasn’t bringing much danger,” he said. “When I heard Renzo (Gracie) saying there was a minute and a half left for the end of the first round, I relaxed. I didn’t have enough time to submit him nor take him down, he wasn’t punching me, so I thought I would keep it that way until the second round. That was the first mistake. The second was that he accidentally hit his head against mine, and I got dizzy. I moved backwards, he punched me and I felt. That head was practically an accidental knockout. When I tried to grab him, clinch, his head hit my face and I backed of”.
“I was supposed to work on the clinch, because I wouldn’t risk trying to grab his legs and take him down because it wasn’t the beginning of the fight, so I wasn’t using much energy with no purpose. I was supposed to work on the clinch and take him down. And during the first round I didn’t try to do that, and suddenly I realized the danger he was putting me in. Losing is terrible. Nobody likes losing, especially being knocked out. But what can I do? I’ll train so it won’t happen again.”