"King Mo" Inks Deals with Bellator and TNA Pro Wrestling
In an unprecedented move – one of the biggest names in mixed martial arts, “King Mo” Lawal, has signed a deal to compete in Spike TV’s two major sports properties, Bellator Fighting Championships and TNA’s IMPACT Wrestling. King Mo will join the stars of TNA this summer and resume his mixed martial arts career next year when Bellator Fighting Championships moves to Spike TV from its current television home, MTV2. The deal was jointly announced today by Kevin Kay, President, Spike TV along with Bjorn Rebney, Chairman & CEO, Bellator Fighting Championships and Dixie Carter, President, TNA Entertainment.
“King Mo is an incredible athlete and a great addition to the Bellator family. He immediately adds prominence and star-power to our light heavyweight division,” said Rebney.
“King Mo is the perfect athlete for this type of alliance. He is the real deal in MMA, and his bold personality and world class wrestling accomplishments are unparalleled. I’m confident he will have a major impact in both sports,” stated Carter.
Lawal (10-1-1) launched his mixed martial arts career in 2008, and after four straight wins, he faced off against his toughest challenge, renowned fighter Mark Kerr. King Mo knocked out Kerr in the first round, and eight months later he defeated Gegard Mousasi in a Light Heavyweight world title fight. Lawal also holds an impressive KO victory against multiple-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Roger Gracie in September 2011.
“This deal is a dream come true for me,” Lawal said. “Bjorn and Dixie have given me the opportunity to engage in my two great loves, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling, at the same time. And, to have it all on Spike TV is really Buttercream icing on a big ole cake – not that whipped cream stuff either!”
King Mo rose to grappling acclaim as a NCAA Division I All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University in 2003 and a three-time U.S. National Champion (2005, 2006, and 2008) in the 84 kilogram division. In 2007, as a member of the U.S. National team, he brought home a gold medal at the Pan American Games and a silver medal at the World Cup.
A native of Murfreesboro, Tenn., Lawal lives in San Jose, Calif. and trains with the prominent American Kickboxing Academy
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Mo is fighting for a b grade mma org and a b grade pro wrestling promotion.
He could have had some interesting fights in the UFC…. So much for our conspiracy theories about Dana firing him from Strikeforce just to hire him in the UFC just like he did with Overeem. LHW division is on life support and we need new talent.
If you matched him up with Rampage you might actually see ‘Page motivated.
Rampage buried the hatchet with Mo before the Jones fight. The only way to motivate Rampage is by matching him up with Forrest or Shogun otherwise he’s bored.
Guess he’s gonna stay bored then.
He is fighting for b level mman and wrestling for b level wrestling in tna you say?? I bet he weill “B” making more than Jon Jones…
I highly doubt Mo will be making more than the UFC’s new poster boy.
I am sure that the MMA alone will not be paying him UFC status cash, but the wrestling is going to be much more. As for Jon Jones’ endorsments, that may be a different story. But for his actuall performances…
I hope the selping nazi’s dont come after me tonight…
Who cares
Good for Mo. He wants to get to work an obviously te UFC brass wasn’t showing him any love. I say when Mo gets back into MMA he will blast straight to the Bellator title and is picked back up by the UFC shortly after.
No
Seems like everyone jumps on the UFC for not doing enough to catch drug cheats. Bellator actively hire a drug cheat and its all cool. Figure that one out.