Muhammed Lawal

Oklahoma State Cowboys

Central Oklahoma Bronchos

Muhammed Lawal (born January 11, 1981), also known as "King Mo", is an American professional wrestler and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to Major League Wrestling.

As a mixed martial artist, he is a former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and Rizin Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion.

Lawal was raised along with his siblings by a single mother.

Growing up Lawal was a fan of professional wrestling and began competing in wrestling at Plano East Senior High School in Plano, Texas.

As a junior Lawal won a state title in the Greco-Roman category and also finished as a state runner-up.

During his senior season Lawal went undefeated and became a state champion after defeating 171 pound favorite Barrett Lidji.

Lawal also competed in football, earning All-District honors as a linebacker during his junior season and as a wide receiver in his senior season.

Lawal also lettered in track and field.

Lawal went on to compete in NCAA Division II wrestling at the University of Central Oklahoma.

He finished in 2nd place in the nation in 2001 and was a national champion in 2002.

For his senior year Lawal moved on to Division I at Oklahoma State University.

Lawal became a Big 12 Conference Champion and Division I All-American in 2003 for Oklahoma State, where he finished in third place for the 197 pound division.

Lawal was also the university freestyle national champion at 185 pounds that year.

After college Lawal continued his wrestling career at the senior level.

He also

competed in the newly formed Real Pro Wrestling league and became the champion of the 184 pound weight class in 2004.

He won the Senior U.S. national championship in freestyle wrestling three times - in 2005, 2006 and 2008.

He also represented the U.S. at the 2005 World Wrestling Championships, where he finished in 7th place.

He controversially lost his match to Sazhid Sazhidov of Russia when he was penalized a point for passivity with 1 second remaining in a match he was winning, giving Sazhidov the win.

Revaz Mindorashvili would be the gold medalist at these games, a wrestler Lawal has defeated.

For over three years, Lawal was the number one ranked wrestler in the United States in the 84 kilogram division.

After narrowly missing entrance to the 2008 Olympics in a loss to Andy Hrovat, for which he was favored a spot, Lawal decided to enter the world of mixed martial arts.

In his 2008 mixed martial arts debut at Sengoku 5, Lawal fought Travis Wiuff, a veteran of 66 fights at the time, knocking him out in the first round.

At Sengoku 6, Lawal fought Fábio Silva on November 1, 2008, defeating him in the third round via strikes.

On January 4, 2009 Lawal faced Yukiya Naito at World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku no Ran 2009, defeating him in the first round with punches.

On March 20, 2009 at Sengoku 7, Lawal defeated Ryo Kawamura by unanimous decision.

His first time going the distance, Lawal attributed his performance to a knee injury sustained about a week before the fight, "I kinda tweaked it rolling around [with Dean Lister], and I tried to rehab it as much as I could before the fight."

On August 28, 2009 Lawal fought for the first time on U.S. soil against Mark Kerr at M-1 Global Presents Breakthrough.

Lawal defeated Kerr by technical knockout 25 seconds into the fight.

On October 13, 2009, it was announced that Lawal had signed a multi-fight contract with U.S. based promotion Strikeforce.

The contract allowed him to continue fighting in the Japanese circuit where he has gained his notoriety.

On December 19 at Strikeforce: Evolution Lawal fought Mike Whitehead, defeating him three minutes and eight seconds into round one via KO (punches).

Lawal came in showing relaxed hands and strong counter punching and caught Whitehead with a strong right which dropped him.

Lawal followed up with three punches causing the referee to stop the fight.

On April 17, 2010, Lawal defeated Gegard Mousasi by unanimous decision to win the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship.

Lawal lost the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Championship in Houston Texas, on August 21, against Rafael Cavalcante by TKO due to punches and elbows of 1:14 of round 3.

Lawal was out of action until mid-2011 after undergoing surgery to repair a knee injury.

Lawal was scheduled to fight Roger Gracie at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson on July 30, 2011.