"He came back and threw a jab and I threw a right hand over his jab and I saw him stumble. And then I hurt him again and we started to tussle and he was putting his hands up and I just started swinging and throwing them rocks...I dove into that fight head first...I want to be back in October or November or both, I don't care," stated Bellator light heavyweight contender King Mo Lawal, who talked about his recent TKO victory over Dustin Jacoby, his future plans and much more. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on the TKO win. How did that new canvas feel to you?
KM: I feel good, man. You didn't see anybody slipping on the whole card. Everybody thought I was whining about it, but Pat Curran was slipping and saying stuff about it. The old regime didn't do anything about it, but the new regime did and that canvas is perfect because it allows guys to grapple and plant when they throw their punches. You need grip to throw good punches and you need grip to score takedowns. You saw better fights and I felt great out there, man.
PC: So you definitely felt a major difference with the new flooring.
KM: Majorly. I had mat burns on my feet. I know a few people from this card had mat burns. Before, they had nothing from the canvas, and now, they got mat burns. It don't feel good, but it means you got grip.
PC: Jacoby came to fight and he didn't go down easy, but he was your third scheduled opponent, with your previous two having to pull out. Was it tough to zone in on him and was there a time you felt you may not even fight?
KM: I knew I was gonna fight, but I didn't know who. Tom DeBlass is a boxer type fighter, and then I was supposed to fight Sursa, who is a grappler, and then I get a kickboxer. Sursa is not fast and he's not polished, and then I end up getting a more solid kickboxer who throws good head kicks and body kicks, and he can submit you and he's tall. He was 6'4" and he was game, but I was ready and down for whatever. My goal was to stop him. I planned on going in there in the first round and stopping him, but I knew he was tough, so I was like, alright, and when I went to my corner, Liborio was like, "Mo, you gotta get serious." So I went out there and got serious and stopped playing around. I laughed at myself because one time I was gonna try and KO him with my left hook and I threw that bitch so hard, I hit the cage. I just started laughing. He just smiled at me and I laughed. I felt kind of played (laughing).
PC: He was a very tall substitution as opposed to the previous two guys you were scheduled to fight. Was there a feeling out process to gauge his distance or did you do what you pretty much wanted to do?
KM: I didn't know what to expect. I just sparred with good kickboxers and I sparred with Michael Hunter for my boxing and worked my wrestling and did my Jiu Jitsu with Liborio and strength and conditioning with Coach Brian. I was just trying to prepare for whoever they got to come in and fight me. I trained for every scenario.
PC: No matter the height advantage your opponents have on you, you usually always have the reach advantage. You got the jab going in round two and were able to set things up off of it.
KM: In the first round, I was trying to feel him out because every time I would throw a jab, he would throw a leg kick. At the end of the first round, I started to throw my jab and then I was like, "You know what. Larry Holmes is here. I gotta get my jab going." So in the second round, I came out and I was popping it with more authority. I was throwing a good, strong jab.
PC: He really didn't try to chop you down with leg kicks like I thought he would. Did you think he would kick a lot more?
KM: He threw a head kick and a couple of body kicks, but I was blocking them and then eventually, I started catching them. He threw a body kick and I caught it. When he threw a body kick, it would either hit my arm or I would block it, so I wasn't worried about that. At the end of the first round, he threw a kick and I caught it and kind of played around with it, you know what I'm saying, and just let it go.
PC: Roger Gracie was a tall light heavyweight as well. You had success with the overhand right against him and that was the punch that started all of the trouble for Jacoby. Talk us through what you saw at the end of the fight.
KM: What happened was I threw a combo, jab-jab; he threw a hook and I rolled under and slipped away and then I came back and hit him with the straight right. And then he came back and threw a jab and I threw a right hand over his jab and I saw him stumble. And then I hurt him again and we started to tussle and he was putting his hands up and I just started swinging and throwing them rocks. I was throwing a lot of right hands because of his positioning, but I was about to go to a Darce' choke. I been working on anacondas and Darce' chokes and that Darce' choke was right there, but Big John stopped the fight before I could transition into it.
PC: A lot of people don't know about the "Dive Team", so tell us about the celebration.
KM: "Dive Team" is a group of people that I'm affiliated with that dive in to any challenge and any situation head first and don't care. You don't care about the water; you dive in and swim with the sharks. So I couldn't dive, but I did swim with the sharks. I dove into that fight head first to my custom Max Minelli track called "Don't Be Scared." It go hard.
PC: You always have a 50/50 cheering to booing ratio from the crowd.
KM: Oh yeah, man, I don't give a damn about them boos, man. They was still mad at me from the Ziyats fight. The thing is, I'm not gonna risk bullshit happening from the canvas being messed up, so I just took the easy win. And then when I came back, they wanna boo me about that, so I told them to kiss my ass. I don't care that much about Connecticut anyway.
PC: When do you want to get back in there?
KM: I want to be back in October or November or both, I don't care.
PC: Congrats again. Good luck moving forward. Is there anything you want to add?
KM: Shout out to everybody doing something positive.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]