"I felt it was a good performance. It wasn't the most exciting performance, but you know what? I had to be smart, man. He had every physical advantage. I don't know what people wanted me to do...I think I want the heavyweight title first. I want the heavyweight, then 205, and then maybe 185 if it's worth it... I'm in it for the paper, you know what I'm saying. It's just fun to me to challenge myself," stated Bellator heavyweight and light heavyweight contender King Mo Lawal, who talked about his victory over Cheick Kongo at Bellator 134, his future plans, and much more. Check it out!
PC: Congratulations on the big win over Cheick Kongo. You dominated that fight. What did you think about the way you performed?
KM: I felt it was a good performance. It wasn't the most exciting performance, but you know what? I had to be smart, man. He had every physical advantage. I don't know what people wanted me to do. I was probably like 214. I probably lost weight going into the fight because I ate and drink as much as I could leading up to the weigh-ins. After the weigh-ins and a workout, I probably lost about 3 pounds there. Then I tried to eat and drink again. But I had a great camp. I brought in my boy, Coach Anthony, to get my hands sharp and I had good sparring partners. I worked with Steve Mocco, "Big Foot," Roy Nelson, and Augusto Sakai. My strength training was great with Coach Brian Harris. I was ready to go. I could have gone 5 rounds. We had a good game plan and it kind of got changed because he did a few things that I wasn't prepared for. I wasn't prepared for Kongo to change his stance and be low like that. That kind of threw me off because I was looking for the overhand right and big left hook. And also, when I took him down, I didn't know he was going to be that strong on the ground. I didn't expect him to... he got a grip on my legs and was twisting my knees and my hips, so that kept me from posturing up and throwing punches. I was always having a hard time loading up. So people don't realize when you got someone like that, he was looking to get a standup; he wasn't looking to go for submissions or anything. He was looking to tie me up and have Big John stand me up. That's all he was looking for and there are very few openings when you have a guy only looking to tie up and get a standup. He's a vet, he's smart, and that's part of the reason why the fight wasn't that exciting.
PC: I was shocked with the power double and outside trip. I figured you could get him down in scrambles and clinches, but didn't see you being able to power through him and score on an outside trip. Were you somewhat surprised by that as well?
KM: No, because here is what happened; the power double happened because his stance got higher as the fight went on. And plus man, I have wrestled some of the best people in the world; Steve Mocco, Kerry McCoy, Tolly Thompson, Tommy Rowlands, Daniel Cormier, and that's just some of the people I have trained with. I have wrestled overseas, Russia, Cuba and Iran. I have seen everything you can possibly see. And I have wrestled some good guys from America. He's not really a wrestler, so I just figured if I used technique, I would always get him and that's what I did.
PC: Not only was your offensive wrestling attack strong, but defensively as well, you showed great balance and hips because he was in deep on a single and you almost had a smile on your face. You seemed to not be worried about being taken down?
KM: Nah, I was resting (laughing). I can tell from his position what he was trying to do and I knew he couldn't do it because I was resting and I was heavy on him. The first takedown he attempted in the 2nd round, he actually tried to shoot on my legs, so I went around him. So he tried to take me down and at the end, he tried to take me down and I just rested there. I was gonna try to elbow his head, but I had his head stuffed and I wasn't going to try and risk nothing. So I just kept his head stuck there because he was long and I wasn't trying to give him position. He could try to do what he wanted to, but I wasn't going to give nothing up to him.
PC: You were able to back him up at times standing. Again, somewhat surprising or did you expect to be able to do that?
KM: No, I wasn't surprised because even when he was coming forward, he wasn't coming forward aggressively. He hit me with a few shots, but I rolled with them or got them on the end. When he was going backwards, I didn't want him to get all the way to the cage because that's when you can get in trouble. He likes to throw offense when his back hits the cage. So if I kept him off of the cage, I figured I could keep him guessing. I thought I could try to stand with him a little more, but my rhythm was throwed off being so short. His stance was changed to go against my height. He hit me with 3 jabs in the 1st round because I was still trying to figure out what I was trying to do to get in. He pawed with it and I was like, "When he paws with his jab, I'm going to throw a left hook or a right hand over that," and he popped me with 3 jabs. Granted, they were like range finders, but he touched me, you know what I'm saying.
PC: Did the real size up come from the face off after the weigh-in or when you guys were in the cage and brought to the center for instructions? Did you have a "damn this dude is big" moment?
KM: At the weigh-ins, I was like, "Man, he's big." And then when we faced off, I was like, "He big, but not like I thought." Then when we got in the cage, I was like, "Damn, he's big! We'll see what happens." I had no worries. I felt good. I didn't think I was ever in any danger. I felt good. I knew what it was like to spar with heavyweights and roll with heavyweights, but I didn't know what it was like to do it for a whole camp; 6-7 weeks.
PC: At the end of the fight, Big John stood you guys up and Kongo could barely stand up. I think Big John even asked if he wanted to continue. It was a grueling style you chose to fight. Do you think you broke his will in there?
KM: I don't know. I think the wrestling may have gotten to him. I tried to stand with him a little more, but that dude was so long. I tried to counter him. I countered him a few times. I stunned him with a few right hands. But I don't know what happened to him. Things happen in there. Maybe he was too tense and not relaxed enough and he overexerted himself in the first period and second period. I don't know though.
PC: You said you want a shot at the light heavyweight title and heavyweight title. Any preference on which one you want first?
KM: I think I want the heavyweight title first. I want the heavyweight, then 205, and then maybe 185 if it's worth it.
PC: Trying to be a 3 division King, huh?
KM: I'm in it for the paper, you know what I'm saying. It's just fun to me to challenge myself. Some people thought I was going to try and stand with Kongo. That would be like me saying, "Hey Roger Gracie, instead of me trying to knock you out and keep the fight standing, I'm gonna grapple with you." It's stupid. They were like, "You didn't want no parts of his standup." Of course I didn't want no parts of his standup. Motherfucker, he's a standup fighter that's a heavyweight. Of course you start MMA on the feet, but I'm in with someone with the reach, the height, and size advantage. He had every advantage standing possible, so I was trying to move and feint him a little bit. Even when I feinted a little bit, I was worried about the up-kick and his knees, so I had to be smart. Randy Couture did the same thing to Tim Sylvia and they loved it (laughing). It was different from what I was used to, so I had to be smart.
PC: It sounds like you have given up on fighting Tito Ortiz.
KM: Man, yeah. I ain't worried about fighting Tito. Like I said, I jumped Tito with that one fight. He could never beat Kongo. Kongo would whip his ass. He's not quick enough, he's not athletic enough, he don't have the tools to beat Kongo. He can't beat Liam, he ain't beating me, Kongo, he ain't beating Lins, he ain't beating Zayats; a lot of people I can't see him beating. He's just hoping for someone to slip up and get hurt and he can take the fight so that he can retire with the belt, but that ain't gonna happen.
PC: Kimbo Slice is back in MMA fighting in Bellator. I know you guys seem to get along pretty good. You and Kimbo cool?
KM: We cool, man. I just texted him a few hours ago to see if he wanted to train and move around a lil bit. I'll probably help him with this fight coming up since we both represent American Top Team. I'll help him get prepared; whatever he need, I'm here.
PC: Congrats again on a great performance. You fought a very smart fight. Is there anything else you want to add?
KM: Uhaa Nation, Young Bucks, I'm a big fan of those two. New Japan Pro Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerillas. I like the Indy underground scene. I'm kind of getting back into that a lil bit. Shout out to all of the people on the Independent wrestling scene. NXT, WWE, OVW and House of Hardcore. I like the pro wrestling stuff, so shout out to everybody out there doing some pro wrestling. And shout out to my boy Max Minelli-Max Payne for the walk out song. Him and Dope Boy Chad; Dope Boy Chad 1.0 and 1.2 on www.livemixtapes.com.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]