If there were ever a grudge match leading up to this Saturdays StrikeForce Nashville Card it’s this one. Light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi and undefeated No. 1 contender Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal take to the ring for a championship showdown that has all the makings of an absolute thriller. King Mo is confident that he will win this fight and I’m sure the trash talking Mo has even placed a bet on himself to prove to what he calls the “haters” that he is not the underdog coming into this fight. There has been tons of trash talk coming from King Mo’s end and Mousasi has gone on record that he has never been as motivated for a fight as he is now. Lets go ahead and breakdown the fight!
Muhammed Lawal
Nickname: King Mo
Fighting Out of: Team Thirsty GDP
Age: 28
Weight: 205 lbs
Height: 5-11
Record: 5-0
Lawal is a former Big 12 wrestling Champion and NCAA Division I All-American at Oklahoma State in 2003 who has demolished all five fighters he’s faced in his brief professional career. ‘King Mo’ made his Strikeforce debut on December 19, 2009, pounding out “Iron” Mike Whitehead with a flurry of punches to finish the fight in the first round (3:08). Lawal certainly isn’t lacking in confidence coming into this fight, saying, “I’m going to exterminate him (Mousasi) like a roach” and repeatedly taunting the champion in recent interviews leading up to the fight. At one point in a recent interview, King Mo compared Mousasi to Kermit the frog.
Gegard Mousasi – Light Heavyweight Champion
Nickname: The Dreamcatcher
Fighting out of: Red Devil International, Team Jurojin, Leidin Netherlands
Age: 24
Height: 6-1
Weight: 205 lbs
Record: 27-2-1
The Iranian-born Armenian Gegard “The Dreamcatcher” Mousasi is the Strikeforce World Light Heavyweight Champion and comes into this fight having won 15 straight fights dating back to August 2006. Mousasi, who will be making his first Strikeforce title defense, pounded Gary Goodridge while fighting at heavyweight in his last fight at Dynamite!! 2009. Mousasi stopped his overmatched opponent with a flurry of punches at 1:34 of the first round and captured the Strikeforce title with an impressive TKO (punches) over Renato “Babalu” Sobral at 3:43 of the first-round on Aug. 15, 2009.
Analysis: This fight is for sure not going to go the distance and had the chance to be fight of the night! Lawal is a very gifted fighter, who is full of confidence and possesses the skill and athletic ability to beat a more experience fighter of Mousasi’s caliber. The sports betting line has him as a under dog but he has the potential to be the dark horse of the night. Nevertheless, I’m going to bet my money on the determined and multi-faceted Mousasi to find a way to beat Lawal in this fight. Lawal will want to keep this fight upright for a while and use his fine boxing and striking skills, but I like Mousasi’s all-around ability to fight however his opponents want to. While Lawal is also a fine wrestler, he hasn’t faced a fighter of Mousasi’s caliber in his brief career and I don’t believe there is anything he can do that the champ hasn’t already seen – and overcome. I like Gegard Mousasi to win this fight likely in the second via submission.
Our Pick: Gegard Mousasi by submission
