King Mo Fights Smart, Bores Fans, Wins Light Heavyweight Championship
by Zach Krantz on Apr 17, 2010 9:57 PM EDT
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Not how CBS wanted to start their night. This fight was selected to start because they wanted fireworks and all they got was empty gas tanks. Despite winning round 1, most in attendance thought Mo was going to lose as he was gassed after one round, This trend continued when Mousasi clearly took the second round, but an early punch from King Mo in round 3 and fighting into the third round for the first time hurt Mousasi. Mousasi's cardio became an obvious problem and the fans bore witness to a sloppy finish. With neither fighter having much energy King Mo was able to secure takedown after takedown before walking away with the deicison. The point taken from Mousasi in round 5 was irrelevant since Mo's wrestling nullfied Mousasi's striking.
Lawal might have lost some fans with his decision to use his wrestling, but it got him the "W" and the belt so I have a hard time bringing down the gaunlet on him. He still drops his hands when throws, his cardio is a serious issue, but the ability to dictate where the fight takes place is why he will continue to win. If he ignores the boos from the fans and continues to fight smart he will continue to pick up wins (assuming his left eye ever opens again).
The question is, who does Mo fight next? A rematch vs, Mike Whitehead is in order.
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I really was not seeing Lawal as being all that gassed. What I was seeing was a much stronger fighter who had trouble dealing with Mousassi’s guard, and needed some work on use of elbows and ground and pound. He had energy though, to put Mousassi back down anytime he wanted. Mousassi too, didn’t strike me as gassed so much as physically unable to deal with Lawal’s strength. When they were on the ground they were stalemated. Lawal had enormous physical strength through five rounds. When you are truly gassed, your muscles lose strength from oxygen deficit.
To fight Mike Whitehead, it looks like Lawal would need to get himself thrown into the Las Vegas jail. The Nevada Martial Arts Penal League might actually be a good place to watch fights, when I think about it. Nobody in MMA can strike with Ike Ibeabuchi, I bet. Is Junie Browning back in the Henderson, Nevada hoosegow yet?
Any idea
why they showed the first 7 seconds of Mo’s entrance and cut away to commercial? Talk about not building your headliner’s personality and perception among fans.
"It’s going to be like sex with a grizzly bear, you know, a lot of scratching and growling on both sides." - Don Frye
they told me they didn’t want to show too much of it. They wanted to show off his character but not go too “far” with the showmanship.
I asked them if they were putting it on youtube, they weren’t sure
watchkalibrun.com
mistake, imo
especially now that he won… they need people can rally for/against, and with the horribad ratings they got, marketing him w/o the benefit of the fans knowing him as “that black guy with the crazy entrance” will be a lot harder
"It’s going to be like sex with a grizzly bear, you know, a lot of scratching and growling on both sides." - Don Frye
