"I probably give myself like a C. I beat him with an average performance. I couldn't really get nothing going. I landed some good shots here and there, but for the most part, I just controlled him with my takedowns. I just couldn't get my footing right and I think that affected me. It made me change my game plan up all the wayÂ…Only one person in the mainstream media had me losing the fight; only one had me losing or a draw. For him to come to me and say he wants a rematch before the announcement of the decision...come on, man. He knows he lost," stated Bellator light heavyweight King Mo Lawal, who talked about his controversial unanimous decision loss to Rampage Jackson this past Saturday. Check out what else he had to say!
PC: What did you think of your overall performance against Rampage Jackson?
KM: It wasn't that good. It was alright. I had a game plan going in and because of the way I was slipping on the mat, I wasn't able to really carry it out. I wanted to take him down in the 1st round and wear him down and grind him out a little bit, and then in the 2nd round, mix it up, fake takedowns, and throw punches and go for takedowns; just mix it up on him. The more I tried to do that, I was like, "You know what? I'm sliding on this canvas, so I'll just keep getting takedowns because that closed the distance." And that's what I was doing. That's how he caught me with that uppercut. He did good work the first minute and forty seconds of the 2nd round. After that, I took over. I controlled the rest of the round. 3rd round, I controlled him. So when it comes down to it, I probably give myself like a C. I beat him with an average performance. I couldn't really get nothing going. I landed some good shots here and there, but for the most part, I just controlled him with my takedowns. I just couldn't get my footing right and I think that affected me. It made me change my game plan up all the way.
PC: You've told me about the canvas issues since you've been in Bellator. Even after impressive wins, you said you still can't quite get your footing right in the Bellator cage.
KM: I can't get my footing right. It's like walking in coleslaw. I just can't get my footing right in that cage. Even against...what's that boys name...Jacob Noe. I wear a size 14 shoe and I have flat feet and for some reason, I guess because I don't have an arch in my foot, I just slide more. In Strikeforce, I didn't slide like that. In Japan, I didn't slide like that. Even in M-1, I wasn't sliding all over the place. I had mat burns on my feet in Japan. They had actual canvas in Japan though, so you get mat burns. In Strikeforce, I didn't slide like that at all; Strikeforce was good! I got mat burns on my feet, but in the Bellator cage, it feels like I'm fighting on velvet. It just feels real slippery to me.
PC: Is there something in the rules that would prohibit you from wearing wrestling shoes like you used to wear when you started your career?
KM: They are under the unified rules and I don't think you can, but I train barefooted at American Top Team and I don't slip and slide. The only time I wear shoes is when I'm doing strength training, hitting mitts, or on the concrete with Dyah or Jeff. Other than that, I'm always barefooted and if I slip in there, it's nothing like when I'm on the Bellator mat. I just felt like I couldn't implement my game plan to the fullest. People can say what they want, but I still won and I was slipping all over the place. You can see, I would make him miss and I would just keep sliding. I hit him with a left hook, right hand and I went to go follow it up and I slipped. It is what it is and people can say what they want to, but they are not doing what I'm doing. You think I would try to slip on purpose? Come on, nah.
PC: I had you winning the fight 29-28. Most people I talk to had it that way as well. When they were taking so long with the scorecards, I texted someone that they were about to screw you. Did you sense that when it was taking a minute to get the cards together?
KM: Nah, I didn't know. I was just chillin' because it didn't seem like they took that long being there. It just felt normal. Here is what happened. After the fight was over, Quinton came to me and was like, "Yeah, I want a rematch. We gotta do this again." And I was like, "Alright!" And he was looking all serious and I'm like, "Am I supposed to be afraid, because I just beat you?" I told him to talk to Bjorn and I would give him a rematch. That's what I said to him and he walked off. You can look at our posture; you can look at his corner and look at my corner and it says everything before the announcement was made. How he gonna ask me for a rematch before the decision was made?
PC: You sacrificed a lot for this camp. You were in Florida for a long time. What was this camp like for you?
KM: I had a 10 out of 10 camp. It was perfect. I was in shape, I was strong, I came in a little bigger. I felt like I was bigger and stronger then Quinton. I knew I was quicker. I felt good. I got him tired and wore him down. I pushed him around, I muscled him and implemented my will on him. Supposedly I have a suspect chin; I took his best shot. I was never on queer street or wobbly never. He never hurt me. He just punched me in my eye with an uppercut. They were trying to look at my eye; I kept on fighting.
PC: Did you ever get your vision back in that eye later on during the round or was it gone the rest of the fight because it got worse before it got better?
KM: I never got it back in that round. It came back in the 3rd. I felt his right hand because he threw a shot and when I dipped, he hit the top of my head and I got like a stinger. My hands and feet went numb. It felt weird because I was like, "Damn, I can't do nothing." I was still aware of what was coming though. He was throwing uppercuts and I was making him miss. He threw like 3 jabs after that. He really didn't land much on me. Everything he landed was pretty much in that 2nd round. I made him miss in the 1st and 3rd round. He just slowed up. I would just dip to my right or dip to my left and roll under or pull back. He throws his left hook like you throw a rock, so I just pull back and damn near made him do a complete turn.
PC: Have you watched the fight yet?
KM: Nah, I ain't watched it yet. I don't know if I'm gonna watch it yet. I'll probably wait a little bit. Everybody is telling me that I won. I heard people say 29-28 and I had people say 30-27. It just depends on how you view things. He did work up until 1:40 of the 2nd round; other than that, I just took over. They can give him the 2nd round though. Most people gave it to him because my eye was swollen. I hurt him with a knee to the chest against the cage and I rocked him with a left hook right hand and tried to follow it up and slipped. The body kicks threw him off. I feel like I was more effective in that round.
PC: Someone said if you didn't beat Rampage, neither did Rashad Evans because they felt the fights looked similar, and they definitely felt Rashad beat him.
KM: Yeah, I feel that. It is what it is, mayne. I'm mad. Everyone in the media picked me to lose and when it was over, they had me winning. Only one person in the mainstream media had me losing the fight; only one had me losing or a draw. For him to come to me and say he wants a rematch before the announcement of the decision...come on, man. He knows he lost. And then he was trying to spin it and say he said that because he wanted to knock me out. He won't knock me out; he's too slow. He wants to be a boxer and wear shoes and box; I'd box him up. He ain't a boxer. He's a brawler. I would box circles around him. If Spike TV and Bellator want to do that, let's make it a boxing match. We can get Roy Jones to be the guest referee. Since he want to box so much, I would hit up James Toney and I would work with him. Me, James Toney, and Jeff Mayweather would work together.
PC: You showed some things I wouldn't say was new, but we haven't seen you do in some time, like the flying knee, but the kicks were a new trick. Was that put in just for this fight or were you not healthy enough in the past to pull them off?
KM: I just wasn't healthy enough to do them in the past. But working at ATT, they been working with me on some great things. Brian Harris, Kami Barzini, Liborio, Glover and Coach Hackleman, they all had me ready. Todd Duffee came through; I was getting that work in. I got to work with some good people and got some good training; Coach Mickey and Dyah Davis. It was good and I felt good. My cardio was there and everything was good.
PC: Is a rematch the only thing that makes sense to you right now?
KM: If he wants one, we can have one. It's not me, really. He's the one that asked me for one because he wants to knock me out supposedly. He asked me for one. That's like Floyd saying, "Hey Oscar, or Maidana or even Castillo, hey, even though I won, it was close, so I want a rematch so I can knock you out." Who the fuck does that? Get the fuck outta here, man. And them dumb ass fans in Memphis actually believed that trash.
PC: Everyone was talking about your body language towards Frank Shamrock. It looks to me that he's just in a position to do a job where you guys are very high strung, but some people feel like you don't like Frank. Is that the case or is the timing just bad?
KM: I like Shamrock, he's cool, but look, I'm in kill mode. You don't want to be interviewed before you walk in the cage. Shamrock is a legend, man. He is a beast. I have been watching Frank for a long time. When I'm going to the cage, my mindset is different and all of the play time is over. When I'm in the back, I'm chillin' and joking around, but then when I get my hands taped and get my gloves on, it's a mindset. When I put my fight gear on, my mindset changes. When I'm getting ready to warm up, there are no more games, no more laughing, or nothing. It's time to fight. And then they have him come in right before I go to the cage and I'm like, "Okay, let's make it short, mayne. It's time for the fight." He knows that. He knows because we talked about it and he understands. He's just doing his job. They asked him to interview me, but he knew what to expect. Frank is cool as hell and in Strikeforce, we used to do fighters meetings and he smile and laugh and we joke around. He is cool. I like Frank.
PC: How is your eye doing?
KM: The eye is good, man. The swelling is going down. I got stitches in it. I think in a week, it will be good and down all the way.
PC: You got a lot of support on social media afterwards and throughout the build up to this fight. Anything you want to say in closing?
KM: I want to thank American Top Team, Lana's Egg Whites, Glamor Shots, Fuel Food, Reebok, Real Talk Entertainment and my people at FightHype and the people that came and supported from Dallas and everywhere. I got a lot of support from everywhere and I appreciate everybody coming out and supporting. Gotta thank my boy Harley Bofshever, the chiropractor, and V Stylez; he always come through and support me from Detroit.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]