Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (7-1 MMA, 2-1 SF) says it's not back to the drawing board, but there's no more learning on the job. He's sticking to what he knows from now on.
"I just got away from what I'm good at, (and) that's wrestling," he today told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) from Norman, Okla., where he's spending time with family.
Lawal met the first loss of his career and relinquished his light heavyweight belt to Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante (10-2 MMA, 3-1 SF) this past Saturday at "Strikeforce: Houston."
Lawal looked like anything but a wrestler in the title fight and darted in and out of range with his hands slung low. He got away with it until Cavalcante met his advance with a knee and punch that set a third-round TKO stoppage in motion.
The decorated collegiate doesn't remember grabbing hold of Cavalcante's legs in a vain attempt to regain his wits; he thought his Brazilian opponent was pushing down on his head as the two hit the fence.
In reality, it was a hail of elbows from Cavalcante, and referee "Big" John McCarthy waving the fight off.
Now "King Mo" is kicking himself that he didn't use his best skill set.
"I didn't really wrestle like I could have," Lawal said. "I could have kept him more confused by faking. But I was going out there to try and bang with him."
He said he put strategy on the backburner when he dug several body shots into Cavalcante's flanks late in the second frame and early in the third.
"I just got overconfident," he said. "I started hitting the body, and I saw his facial expression change. I just got dumb."
While he might have been dumb, one thing he wasn't was enhanced, which is what many observers called him after he was spotting sucking oxygen from a canister between rounds (he has an endorsement with the company that makes the breathing aid).
"No effect, man," he said of his O2 use during the fight. "People want to make a big deal about it, but it's not a big deal. I used it in training camp for a week, (and) it helped me slow my heart rate down and focus my breathing – that's about it. I could have done it without the oxygen can."
The usually cocky Lawal was uncharacteristically quiet leading into this past Saturday's event and picked himself as underdog. But with the experience now behind him, Lawal won't do the same if, or when, he gets another crack at the new champion.
"A loss is a loss," he said. "I can beat him. I was up two rounds to none. In the third round, if I took him down more and played it safe I could have probably stopped him in the fourth because I had him hurt to the body. But it's whatever. Come back smarter and better."
Lawal said he's not too broken up over the loss of his title, which he earned four months prior with an upset over the highly touted Gegard Mousasi at "Strikeforce: Nashville."
"I always do better after a loss," he said. "I don't celebrate victories. I don't really care about winning. It's cool to win. It's whatever with me."
There's the old "King Mo."
"I just go out there and try to execute the game plan, and I didn't execute the best game plan for my capabilities," he continued. "But it happens. I'm going to be alright, though. I've got family; I've got people that care about me. I've got MMA fans that back me. It's all good. I'm still early in my career. [Georges St-Pierre] lost and came back better. Great athletes and great champions that lose come back better."
He knows what to do when he comes back, and that's return to his roots.
"People like Joe Warren, Brock Lesnar and me, we were learning on the job," Lawal said. "Now, it's to the point where seven fights into my career, I'm not learning on the job anymore."
And if he can breathe easier along the way with oxygen, that's cool too.
"If I can, I will," he said. "It makes no difference to me. Whatever's comfortable. It's free. You can't beat free."
