‘King Mo’ Lawal ends retirement to sign with BKFC, set for bare-knuckle debut in September

Former Strikeforce champion and Bellator veteran Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal is returning from retirement and competing for the first time in nearly five years after inking a deal with BKFC.

In his debut, the 43-year-old veteran faces Dave Mundell in a light heavyweight bout at the upcoming BKFC 66 card in Hollywood, Fla. on Sept. 13.

It’s a surprising move for Lawal, who has dedicated himself to coaching these past few years as one of the main instructors at American Top Team in Florida. At the time of his retirement, Lawal commented that the end of his career was a long time coming, mostly due to health issues with his body.

“It’s been on my mind for a while,” Lawal told MMAFighting about his decision to retire in 2019. “I just put it in the back of my head. It was the pain from the injuries that was messing me up and my lack of range of motion from my hip and my knee. I’ve been fighting most of my career with no legs, a messed up knee or a messed up hip, and after I had that hip surgery where they put titanium metal in my hip, it kind of made me think — I’m going to need a knee replacement, I’m going to need an elbow replacement, I’m going to need a hip replacement.

“I was like, I’m getting old, I’m 38, I’ve got kids. I can’t even run right now. I can’t even jog, really. I’m that bad. It’s to the point where if I can’t jog or sprint or be explosive, then I’ve got to stop.”

Beyond his MMA career, Lawal was an incredibly accomplished wrestler who competed at Oklahoma State, where he was an All-American. It was only after he missed out on making the Olympic team in 2008 that Lawal decided to make his move into MMA.

Lawal hasn’t addressed his decision to return yet, but based on what many other veteran fighters have stated in the past, the preparation for BKFC isn’t nearly as physically grueling as getting ready for an MMA bout, where grappling and wrestling are a requirement.

No matter the reason, Lawal is coming out of retirement and jumping right into the deep end at BKFC against Mundell, who is the current middleweight champion with an 8-1 record overall in bare-knuckle competition.

The main event for the card sees bantamweight champion Alberto Blas put his title on the line against Ryan Reber.