Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal defeated Satoshi ishii by unanimous decision last night at Bellator 169 in Dublin, Ireland, and then announced that he’s now going to participating in Rizin’s openweight grand-prix in just a couple of weeks time in Japan.
The Rizin promotion had been on the hunt for a star to replace Wanderlei Silva in the quarter-finals of the Grand Prix after he pulled out of his eagerly anticipated match-up with Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic on the December 29th show.
However, Rizin officials are believed to still be considering their options as to whether Lawal will now fight ‘Cro Cop’ or will be matched up with a different opponent.
This will be familiar territory for former Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Lawal as he won Rizin’s heavyweight grand-prix last year, though he didn’t fight any major names along the way.
This time there’s more star power in the mix though, with former UFC interim heavyewight champion Shane Carwin also involved along with ‘Cro Cop’, which on paper would appear to make his route to victory more daunting.
