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Holding Court: "King Mo" TKOs Larkin in second round
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@acnpapers.com
Plano East alum Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal introduced Lorenz Larkin to the deep end of Strikeforce's light heavyweight division in the most unceremonious way possible on Jan. 7.
From the opening bell, the previously-unbeaten Larkin could not stay afloat, succumbing to Lawal's wrestling and heavy hands on the main card of "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine."
It was a bout that boded well for the former Panther right out of the gates.
It took a mere 30 seconds for Lawal to uncork a high, single-leg takedown that firmly planted Larkin on his back and out of his comfort zone.
"I was stalking him awkwardly, so he wouldn't know what was coming," Lawal said. "I faked a shot, threw a jab, another jab to the body, went for the takedown and that's when it was over."
With little cage time spent competing off his back, Larkin had little resolve for the international wrestling standout's top game. Pinning Larkin against the fence, Lawal alternated between full- and half-guard as he peppered his opponent with punches and even mixed in a few elbows -- a sparingly-utilized weapon in his arsenal.
"I haven't had much experience with throwing elbows," Lawal said, "and that's something I need to work on, and it's much more different than in training.
"This was my first fight where I really got to throw elbows and maybe I was a bit too anxious and tight on top."
Early into the second round, Lawal was far more willing to open up with his ground strikes, securing another takedown 30 seconds into the frame and eventually pinning his left arm against Larkin's right shoulder and landing a crushing right hand that hurt Larkin.
"In the second round, I hit him and I heard him cuss," Lawal said. "It was like 'Aww [expletive].' If you listened closely, he was trying to say something as I hit him. I just had to keep on punching until the ref jumped in."
The punches flowed in bunches, with Lawal landing 17 clean, unanswered right hands on Larkin until referee Kim Winslow intervened. Despite earning the stoppage just 92 seconds into the second round, the timing of the referee's intervention drew Lawal's ire afterwards.
"I thought [Winslow] waited too long and I didn't like that," he said. "Either she stops the fights too soon or too late. She can get someone hurt that way and I think that comes from a lack of experience training. If you compete, you know when someone's hurt, but I don't think she's ever competed."
Despite the late stoppage, Lawal dealt Larkin the first loss of his career at 12-1, while improving his own record to 9-1.
Hoping to showcase more of his striking game, Lawal said it was too tempting to turn away from the takedowns and utilize his significant edge in the wrestling department. And because of it, Lawal is now 2-0 in Strikeforce since enduring the first and only loss of his career in August 2010 to Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante.
Still confined within the six-sided cage of Strikeforce and now re-signed under a new four-fight contract with the promotion, rematches with Cavalcante or Gegard Mousasi, who he won the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship from, may well be on the horizon for the ex-Panther.
Regardless of the opponent, Lawal's modus operandi doesn't change one iota.
"I just know somebody's gonna get their [expletive] whooped," Lawal said.
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