Mo Lawal is not your typical fighter. He’s not only talented with world class wrestling (yes, I’m allowed to use the words ‘world class’ because I actually know what that term means), he’s outspoken and extremely intelligent on all things fight related. In short, he’s a a spectacular interview, which makes him a very sought after man. In his most recent interview with TapouT Radio, Mo gave us some insight to his mindset going into this Saturday’s Strikeforce bout with Lorenz Larkin, and also shared some gruesome stories about staph infection.
Friendly Foe
“I’m cool with him until weigh ins. After we both make weight, we’re enemies, come fight time, we’re enemies, and after the fight, we’re cool again. As a matter of fact, I’d go up and train with him after this fight. Right now, we’re cool, but at the weigh ins, he’s my enemy.”
Training For Larkin
“I’ve had Cung Le with me, because I helped him train for Wanderlei, I’ve had Lyoto Machida with me, and Brian Vera (Leonard Garcia’s 1/2 brother), but you can’t really emulate Larkin because he’s like a Shaolin master. I’m not trying to fight to anyone’s particular style. I’m just gonna go out there and go with my game plan with whoever I’m fighting. He can be the best jiu jitsu guy in the world, the best kickboxer in the world, but I’m still going to implement my game plan. It doesn’t matter who it is.”
Making Weight
“I’m like 3 lbs over weight right now. I can get up to 225 walking around weight, but I’m always training, so I try to be around 218, if I’m heavy, 220. I’m always in the gym, I’m always training, I’m always doing something. I’m up at AKA, picking up new skills and sparring, or doing something. I’m always trying to train. I’m ready for battle.“
Striking
“My striking is coming along good. I can’t wait to test it again with Allan Green, because I spaared with him the first time, and granted, I landed a few shots, but he landed a lot more, and he put it on me. I’m thinking this time, he’ll still put it on me, but I’ll do a little better. Actually, I’ll do a lot better. I like sparring with pro boxers. It’s just fun. I love boxing.”
Speculation That Larkin Is An “Easy” Opponent
“The people saying that have never fought before. Anything can happen in competition. They said I was an easy fight for Gegard Mousasi. What happened? I beat Gegard. Some of these people out there don’t know a damned thing. They need to keep their mouth shut and stick to watching fights. Lorenz Larkin is undefeated for a f*cking reason. He’s got more wins than I got fights. I’m taking him serious. On paper it might seem “easy”, but it’s not. No fight comes easy with these little ass, 4 ounce gloves on.”
Staph Infection, Why You So Scary?!
“There was a kid that wrestled for Pittsburgh, I’ll never forget him. He was a tough 197 pounder, a returning All American. He was gonna be coming back the same year I was gonna be a senior, and I thought ‘F*ck, I’m gonna have to wrestle this kid.’ Well, in a freestyle match, he dropped his contact lense out of his eye. It hit the mat, and he picked it up, licked it, and put it back in his eye. A week and a half later, he died from staph infection. It started in his eye and went straight back through his brain. Staph infections are not to be joked with. I’ve had staph infections where I’ve had to get antibiotic IVs. Once you get antibiotic IVs, trying to work out afterward, is a joke, because you’ll gas. It’ll kill you. I had it on my face before. It was painful, and it paralyzed part of my face. It looked like I had Bell’s Palsy. I looked like Two Face. I couldn’t chew. I could barely blink. I had a big hole in my face that was oozing pus. I’d never wish that on anybody.”
Prediction
“I predict that it will end in a round that has 5 minutes. I’m thinking it might be the second or third, but I really don’t know. I’m cool with it going to decision. I just want to put good work in. I’m out there to impose my will and to fight hard. I’m gonna fight hard and fight smart. Whether its, 30 seconds or 15 minutes, I’m ready to go. Of course, everyone wants a first round knockout, and I’m gonna try to get the KO in the 1st, but if it goes 15, hey I’m cool with dishing out a 15 minute ass whooping.”
Mo Lawal vs. Lorenz Larkin takes place this Saturday night on the Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine card in Las Vegas.
You can follow King Mo via his Twitter
You can listen to the audio from this interview at TapouT Radio
[...] source: crooklynscorner.com mma.tv BestofMMA.com [...]
[...] affected. A college wrestler died a week after obtaining an infection by licking and re-inserting a contact lens that fell onto the mat [...]