Gegard Mousasi vs. Muhammad Lawal set for Strikeforce on CBS

It looks like the king will get the chance to add a new jewel to his crown in April.

Charismatic fighter Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal has signed on to fight for the Strikeforce light heavyweight title when he faces champion Gegard Mousasi on April 17 at the promotion's next major CBS card.

The fight was confirmed to MMAWeekly.com by sources close to the situation on Monday.

Since debuting in 2008, King Mo has taken the sport of MMA by storm, proclaiming he was destined for greatness and that he was happy to prove it against any and all comers. After dispatching of veterans like Travis Wiuff and Mike Whitehead, it looks like Lawal will now try to prove he's championship material.

Rapidly rising up the ranks as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport, Gegard Mousasi has made everyone take notice of his considerable skills and technique as he's gone undefeated for almost three years.

After conquering the middleweight division in Dream, Mousasi decided to move up to light heavyweight. Since that time he's beaten all of his opponents, including fighters like Renato "Babalu" Sobral and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou.

Recently leaving his management team of M-1, Mousasi is ready to once again prove he belongs with the best fighters in the world, and try to take some of the swagger out of the step of the always confident Lawal.

The bout between Mousasi and Lawal will serve as co-main event for the upcoming Strikeforce show in April, headlined by middleweight champ Jake Shields defending his title against Dan Henderson. MMAWeekly.com will have more news on this event in the coming days.

SOURCE: MMAWEEKLY

Im really looking forward to this fight and cant wait to see these to get it on!!!

King MO is about to take that crown.

muayjitsu wrote:

King MO is about to take that crown.

Wanna sig bet?

I think I got a bet with someone already. But hey if they don't pull through I am down for that bet farmer.

Mousasi by distruction.

I got Mousasi

Mousasi is the smart choice here I think. However, I think this is a trap fight for him. We just don't know how good Mo is with the fights we've seen him in. If he comes out like he did aganst Babalu, he should be fine but in the last CBS show he looked very flat IMO. I know he said he tried new things in training for that fight and I believe him but still. Mousasi has more to lose here than he has to gain.

Great fight. The best LHW match outside the UFC.

I can't wait to say i told you so to everyone on here.

Mousasi vs. Hendo would be the best LHW match outside the UFC

The UFC has a big time monopoly on the LHW division
these guys are it
Hendo
Mousasi
Mo
Babalu
I don't know who is within a sniff of the top 25 in HW, LHW, or MW who has fought at 205 other than these few.
Monson
Philo
Prangley

You know I am more excited for this fight then so many others. I think what we get in this fight will be a solid answer to how good either fighter really is.

muayjitsu wrote:

I can't wait to say i told you so to everyone on here.

If Mo comes at Gegard with the same sloppy ass standup he did in his last fight Gegards gonna run through him. But hey I know Mo has alot of power and if I'm wrong I'll be the first to admit it.

Not a Mousasi hater or anything, but I would like to see Mo get the KO. Then after Rampage leave the UFC I wouldn't mind Mo vs Rampage after all that shit they talked to eachother.

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Great fight. The best LHW match outside the UFC.

+1

GDPofDRC wrote:

The UFC has a big time monopoly on the LHW division
these guys are it
Hendo
Mousasi
Mo
Babalu
I don't know who is within a sniff of the top 25 in HW, LHW, or MW who has fought at 205 other than these few.
Monson
Philo
Prangley

Cavalcante is still a decent prospect and Kyle is a worthwhile guy who should be at 205 and in SF. Not top 25 guys(at least not yet for Rafael) but they could provide interesting fights in the future. And guys can pop up quickly.

Mo is going to win imo. He will not strike the way he did against Whitehead. He is too smart for that.

This is a big step up in competition for Mo but his wrestling can be an equalizer if he uses it. I'll put my money on Gegard, though.

I think Mo has a decent chance to win the fight. The most likely scenario is Mousasi by sub though IMO

Mousasi via talent... Mo is one of the sloppiest strikers in MMA as far as I'm concerned while Mousasi is extremely intelligent and will feast off of that sloppy style. Mo's only hope will be to try and get this on the ground and hope to avoid submission while there (No easy task with Gegard)... If he continues to act like a Court Jester (And he's shown no signs of being intelligent enough not to) rather than the supposed King, Mousasi will turn him inside out in a hurry...

I just can't buy into Mo because Whitehead was too fat and slow to deliver a head kick or even land a jab to that wide open melon or because he wiped out a way past his prime Kerr (Was there ever a prime?) after feasting on nobody's in Japan...

LikesToFightGuy wrote:

Mousasi via talent... Mo is one of the sloppiest strikers in MMA as far as I'm concerned while Mousasi is extremely intelligent and will feast off of that sloppy style. Mo's only hope will be to try and get this on the ground and hope to avoid submission while there (No easy task with Gegard)... If he continues to act like a Court Jester (And he's shown no signs of being intelligent enough not to) rather than the supposed King, Mousasi will turn him inside out in a hurry...

I just can't buy into Mo because Whitehead was too fat and slow to deliver a head kick or even land a jab to that wide open melon or because he wiped out a way past his prime Kerr (Was there ever a prime?) after feasting on nobody's in Japan...

Mo fought the way he did against Whitehead because he was too fat and slow. He will not fight like that against Mousassi. And, to say Mousassi via talent is ridiculous. Mo is just as talented, if not more. Mo is not a dumb guy. Ive followed him since his wrestling days and have seen him training at Colorado Springs. He takes training very seriously as well as his gameplanning. The guy is a much better athlete then Mousassi and will you will see how good he is when they fight. Most people dont like Mo because of the King routine and all that bullshit. But, he is probably one of the top 5 athletes in mma right now and is going to be very hard to beat.

JimboJones1 wrote:

LikesToFightGuy wrote:

Mousasi via talent... Mo is one of the sloppiest strikers in MMA as far as I'm concerned while Mousasi is extremely intelligent and will feast off of that sloppy style. Mo's only hope will be to try and get this on the ground and hope to avoid submission while there (No easy task with Gegard)... If he continues to act like a Court Jester (And he's shown no signs of being intelligent enough not to) rather than the supposed King, Mousasi will turn him inside out in a hurry...

I just can't buy into Mo because Whitehead was too fat and slow to deliver a head kick or even land a jab to that wide open melon or because he wiped out a way past his prime Kerr (Was there ever a prime?) after feasting on nobody's in Japan...

Mo fought the way he did against Whitehead because he was too fat and slow. He will not fight like that against Mousassi. And, to say Mousassi via talent is ridiculous. Mo is just as talented, if not more. Mo is not a dumb guy. Ive followed him since his wrestling days and have seen him training at Colorado Springs. He takes training very seriously as well as his gameplanning. The guy is a much better athlete then Mousassi and will you will see how good he is when they fight. Most people dont like Mo because of the King routine and all that bullshit. But, he is probably one of the top 5 athletes in mma right now and is going to be very hard to beat.

Same here Jimbo... Mo is a great wrestler. I was very disappointed by his performance in the trials as I really wanted to see what he could do in the Olympics (Gotta show when it matters). But he has shown that same arrogance fighting with his hands at his sides while bobbing his head in and out in every one of his MMA fights (Against garbage talent for the most part). I'm not sure he can help it... It seems to be part of his shtick. He may be a better "athlete", but me calling his striking sloppy is being generous. Gegard is a top notch kickboxer with very crisp and pure strikes coming from his fists and his feet. If Mo drops those hands even for a second, the speed and accuracy of the "better fighter" is going to leave him on his ass. Mo's ONLY hope is to get this to the ground and hope to end it via GnP. But that's no given as Mousasi's submission skills are no joke either. Mo has 2 ways to win this... A Serra type moment because his striking isn't nearly on the level of Mousasi, or connecting on the ground. Mousasi can finish this fight in any position and almost any fashion... That's what I mean via talent!

LikesToFightGuy wrote:

JimboJones1 wrote:

LikesToFightGuy wrote:

Mousasi via talent... Mo is one of the sloppiest strikers in MMA as far as I'm concerned while Mousasi is extremely intelligent and will feast off of that sloppy style. Mo's only hope will be to try and get this on the ground and hope to avoid submission while there (No easy task with Gegard)... If he continues to act like a Court Jester (And he's shown no signs of being intelligent enough not to) rather than the supposed King, Mousasi will turn him inside out in a hurry...

I just can't buy into Mo because Whitehead was too fat and slow to deliver a head kick or even land a jab to that wide open melon or because he wiped out a way past his prime Kerr (Was there ever a prime?) after feasting on nobody's in Japan...

Mo fought the way he did against Whitehead because he was too fat and slow. He will not fight like that against Mousassi. And, to say Mousassi via talent is ridiculous. Mo is just as talented, if not more. Mo is not a dumb guy. Ive followed him since his wrestling days and have seen him training at Colorado Springs. He takes training very seriously as well as his gameplanning. The guy is a much better athlete then Mousassi and will you will see how good he is when they fight. Most people dont like Mo because of the King routine and all that bullshit. But, he is probably one of the top 5 athletes in mma right now and is going to be very hard to beat.

Same here Jimbo... Mo is a great wrestler. I was very disappointed by his performance in the trials as I really wanted to see what he could do in the Olympics (Gotta show when it matters). But he has shown that same arrogance fighting with his hands at his sides while bobbing his head in and out in every one of his MMA fights (Against garbage talent for the most part). I'm not sure he can help it... It seems to be part of his shtick. He may be a better "athlete", but me calling his striking sloppy is being generous. Gegard is a top notch kickboxer with very crisp and pure strikes coming from his fists and his feet. If Mo drops those hands even for a second, the speed and accuracy of the "better fighter" is going to leave him on his ass. Mo's ONLY hope is to get this to the ground and hope to end it via GnP. But that's no given as Mousasi's submission skills are no joke either. Mo has 2 ways to win this... A Serra type moment because his striking isn't nearly on the level of Mousasi, or connecting on the ground. Mousasi can finish this fight in any position and almost any fashion... That's what I mean via talent!

I see what youre saying. I just think that he was fighting with that standup style bc he hasnt fought anyone close to his ability. i think we will see a different Mo in this fight. I also think he can tko mousassi from top position. He has a lot of power in his hands.

Ali_1748 wrote:

Wolfgangsta wrote:

Great fight. The best LHW match outside the UFC.

+1

I'll say it again, Mousasi vs. Hendo would be the best LHW match outside the UFC.