"I think Dada and Kimbo is going to come down to who lands the first big shot. I got my boy Kimbo in that. Royce Gracie and Shamrock is going to come down to who makes the first major mistake and I got my boy Gracie in that one because I'm cool with him," stated Bellator light heavyweight and RIZIN Fighting Federation heavyweight tournament champion King Mo Lawal, who gave his predictions for Friday's Bellator 149 event. Check it out!
PC: You said on FightHype Radio that you would have some breaking news for us. Can you reveal that right now?
KM: I'm not copping out on that, but I'm going to give y'all the exclusive next week. I can't do it right now; it's too soon.
PC: Bellator is signing a lot of fighters; fighters that have a name and could impact the company immediately. You have to be pleased with the direction in which Bellator is going?
KM: Yeah mane, we WCW (laughing). I know some people don't like it, but what they want is one organization. Competition is good for everybody. It's good for the fighters and it's good for the fans; gives you other options and make people step their game up.
PC: They just signed 3 female fighters and a top female fighter a few weeks back. Strikeforce was the leader in female fighting when they were around and created a lot of stars. It appears Scott Coker is trying to get it back to that.
KM: Yeah man, I think they signed some 125-pounders. I hope they add a few more weight classes and eventually have a good roster of female fighters. I'm not going to lie man, sometimes when they have women on the cards, they steal the show. They go out there and they fight and they fight hard. People remember them fights more than they remember the guys' fights. They come to let it be known that they belong in the cage like we do.
PC: I know you're going to be out there in Houston. It's a very intriguing card. What do you think of the match-ups on the Bellator 149 card?
KM: I think Emanuel Newton and Linton Vassell is going to come down to who has the better game plan. I think Dada and Kimbo is going to come down to who lands the first big shot. I got my boy Kimbo in that. Royce Gracie and Shamrock is going to come down to who makes the first major mistake and I got my boy Gracie in that one because I'm cool with him. I'm picking the people I'm cool with. Melvin Guillard has to come out there and show something because he's coming off of a loss. He has to entertain the crowd and look impressive; make a statement. I think more than anything, this card is full of fighters looking to make a statement. Shamrock and Gracie looking to make a statement because people trying to talk bad about the fight saying that these guys are both old. They are both old, but guess what! They both want to do it. They both training hard and taking it serious, so you have to respect that. With Dada and Kimbo, it's a grudge match. They hate each other. Kimbo said he's going to do some things to him, so let's see him do them things. Why are people complaining? It's free on Spike. You ain't gotta order no pay-per-view. Tune in and watch some good fights that's free on Spike. People want to be a snob in MMA and talk about the purity of the sport. Motherfucker, the purity left when they got rid of tournaments. All true sports have a tournament format. That's how you find out who is the best at that time. People bashing CM Punk, bash him for what? CM Punk wants to fight. I talk to the dude, mane. He was like, "Mo, look, I've always wanted to fight. If I didn't go out there and fight one time, I would never forgive myself." When he told me that, I was like, "Dude wants to fight." He ain't got to fight, he could keep on wrestling, he could retire or do something else, but he wants to fight. He's taking it serious. He joined a camp; he's taking privates. Nathan Quarry, he's cool, but he's saying he didn't pay his dues, but it's like this, he paid his dues in pro wrestling and once you paid your dues in one sport, I feel like you have paid your dues in all sports because you had to work your way from the bottom to the top. In pro wrestling, he's wrestled for free in some places, put the ring together, took the ring apart, carpooled to a show; CM Punk probably did hundreds of shows from free or $50 or less. That's week to week for a whole year. There is no off season in pro wrestling or MMA, so he did pay his dues and if he wants to fight, let him fight.
PC: We all have something where we just have to experience it once and get it out of our system and either stick with it or move on. Dave Bautista told me the same thing; he just had to fight once and then he walked away.
KM: It's just people being snobs, man. I understand Quarry because he paid his fucking dues, so I understand that, but at the same time, don't knock CM Punk because you don't know what dues he has paid. I didn't make it to that level in pro wrestling, but I paid my dues at OVW. I went to all the practices and did the shows all over, took the ring apart, put it together, carried the ring back to the place. I did all of that and I wrestled in matches, so I paid my dues, not to the level of CM Punk, but I did matches for free as well. It's not like they found CM Punk in the street and was like, "You know what, you're famous. Let's throw you in the cage." It didn't happen like that. CM Punk had to pay his dues to become famous.
PC: You always get a lot of love down south. You will be in Houston for Bellator 149. What kind of atmosphere are you expecting out there?
KM: I hope it's going down in H-Town! I'm noticing MMA is growing out there, boxing is getting bigger, kickboxing is getting bigger, so I hope we get a good crowd and get some faces in there. I know a lot of rappers and basketball players out there like MMA and they like boxing and kickboxing, so I'm hoping we get a good turnout. They are going to get a good show because these fights coming up is going to be live.
PC: I will see you in Houston. Always appreciate the time, and me and Ben want to thank you again for doing the radio show. It was a really good show. Give me something in closing my man.
KM: Man, it's going down in H-Town next Friday the 19th. Y'all tune in. It's going down, free on Spike, fighters come first, that's the new motto. Y'all tune in and watch them boys bang it out!
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]