"King" Mo Lawal Keeps It Real: NCAA Champions are a dime a dozen
by Jonathan Snowden on Dec 18, 2009 9:17 AM EST
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Promoted to the Front Page by Zak Woods picture via assets.heavy.com
Ever wonder how supposedly world class wrestlers end up on their backs in the cage? On paper they should be unstoppable, keeping to their feet as long as they want. "King" Mo Lawal, a former wrestling champion of these United States, breaks down why that might not be true:
Heavy.com: You’ve been around wrestling so long, since you were a teenager. What did it mean for you to fight Mark Kerr? Does his pedigree and his legend cross your mind when you step in against him?
King Mo: The thing is, NCAA champions come a dime a dozen. To me NCAA champion is a joke. I don’t care about that. It’s a different level when you hit the world scene. International wrestling. That’s where you become a man. Mark Kerr was good, but he hasn’t wrestled in so long. After five years, once you stop competing and working out with world class athletes, your skills deteriorate. Look at Dan Henderson, Matt Lindland, and Randy Couture. Those guys get taken down by guys that have never wrestled before. If you haven’t trained wrestling in awhile, your skills deteriorate. Same thing with jiu jitsu and boxing.
More with the King at Heavy.com, where Mo Lawal discusses how he watches fights, Quinton Jackson, and why he can beat heavyweights.
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I agree. When we were talking it made perfect sense to me.
by Jonathan Snowden on Dec 18, 2009 1:37 PM EST reply actions
Agreed. Every year there are 7 weight classes with NCAA champs
most of whom would get embarrassed at the international level. Wrestlers at the level of Mo, Lindland, Warren and to a lesser extend Hendo, Randy and Ben Askren have earned the right to say whatever they feel like about collegiate wrestling.
Gimme 1 round!
just for the H--l of it
how about
Mo vs. Herschel?
that ought to be good for Strikeforce,
fun for us
and good for MMA
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