Muhammed Lawal’s return to martial arts has been cancelled.
Former Strikeforce champion and long-time Bellator veteran “King Mo” Lawal was scheduled to make his BKFC debut at BKFC 66 on September 13 against Dave Mundell, but an injury sustained during training prevented that from happening.
A BKFC official confirmed the news to MMA Junkie on Wednesday after MMAFighting.com published an initial report.
The exact nature of Lawal’s injury has not been disclosed and it remains to be seen if the 43-year-old will make another comeback attempt once he is medically cleared. In the meantime, BKFC officials told MMA Junkie that a new fight for Mundell’s BKFC middleweight title is in the works.
“King Mo” has not competed since November 2019, when he lost his MMA retirement bout by first-round KO to Andrew Kapal at Bellator 233. The result extended his losing streak to four fights, all of which ended by stoppage due to strikes.
During his MMA career, Lawal (21-10) defeated luminaries such as Quinton Jackson, Jiri Prochazka, Linton Vassell, Cheick Kongo and others. During his fighting career, he worked as a part-time trainer at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, Florida, but after retiring, he worked at the gym full-time.
Speaking to MMA Junkie shortly after his fight was announced earlier this month, Lawal said his incentive for a comeback was to “test himself.”
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