King Mo Lawal

One of the hottest topics of debate among MMA fans has always been the "what if" scenarios regarding free agents. Free agency in the sport of MMA works a bit differently than that of the free agency within MLB, the NBA, or the NFL. Fighters aren't being courted by various teams under one large organization, but rather multiple organizations in which their marketing abilities and depth of talent within the organization become much more relevant attributes in a contract talk.

One of the better free agent fighters in the market right now is Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal. He is currently 5-0 in his career with his most recent win coming at M-1 Breakthrough on Friday night in Kansas City in which he demolished the aged Mark Kerr inside :25 seconds. Most fans cringe at the fact that he even accepted a fight with Kerr, but Lawal mentioned in a recent sitdown with John Morgan at MMAJunkie.com that it was a warm-up fight for his ailing knee:

While Lawal admitted Kerr didn't quite measure up to the standards of previous opponents, he also felt it was fair to accept a "warm-up fight" while recovering from an ACL reconstruction.

"M-1 was just a one-fight deal," Lawal said. "I wasn't even going to fight in M-1. I was going to do rehab. But they offered me the opponent, and I thought it was a good way to test me knee to see where my knee is it. I decided to take it."

At 5-0, there are plenty of critics to Lawal's reign as potentially being one of the next best light heavyweights, but the fact of the matter is that Lawal hasn't taken on the easiest competition for such a green fighter. After all, he did take on seasoned MMA veteran Travis Wiuff in his first professional MMA bout, a man who holds 53 wins over a course of 66 matches. He also battled Fabio Silva (11-5), Ryo Kawamura (10-4-2), and Yukiya Naito (15-6-2). It isn't a terrible list of talent for a fighter's first five battles in his career, and even more impressive -- the toughest opponent of the five bouts was his first professional fight.

Why should promotions be high on grabbing Lawal? Right now, he's one of the best credentialed wrestlers in the market and possibly in the sport. While he holds D-I All American credentials and a #1 ranking for over three years at the 84kg weight class, he's managed to transition his wrestling abilities to MMA in devastating fashion. He sports some of the meaniest ground and pound skills we've seen in a long time.

Lawal also has an interesting personality that could sell much like Quinton "Rampage" Jacksonhas been able to do with the UFC. He can be abrasive, and he'll fuel angry feuds with opponents that could produce must-see battles in the cage or ring. As we saw with the entire Jackson-Lawal videos on Youtube, it managed to get people interested in the possibility even though it may have all been for show. His flamboyant entrances featuring his own theme song coupled with scantily-clad dancers has also struck a cord with fans.

Where can Lawal display these personality traits? While the UFC is a solid opportunity for Lawal, Lawal has stated that he wants to fight frequently while also garnering a decent salary. The UFC probably doesn't see a 5-0 record against average competition has a selling point to them for giving Lawal somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 - $100k, so I'd be willing to bet they'll wait and see what happens. If the UFC came knocking with a reality show tryout, Lawal should probably take the bait as the exposure would be amazing for his career.

Strikeforce is the most suitable of the suitors as they have a depth of talent that both DREAM and Sengoku lack right now, and they have the ability to expose Lawal to the American fanbase. Their light heavyweight division consists of Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Gegard Mousasi, Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante, Kevin Randleman, Mike Whitehead, Ralek Gracie, Bobby Southworth, Mike Kyle, Paoi Suganuma, Aaron Rosa, Jaime Fletcher, and Wayne Cole. Not a bad list of mid-level competition for Lawal to battle on his way into match-ups with Cavalcante, Sobral, Whitehead, Kyle, and a climactic shot at Mousasi if he still remains with the promotion. He'll also have the potential to do co-promoted events with DREAM on Japanese soil to continue his exposure to the Japanese fanbase.

With a solid base in wrestling, ability to finish, and a personality that can both entertain and stir the pot, Lawal should be a prime candidate for MMA promotions out there looking for a guy they can build as a potential star. The UFC may hang back on Lawal and lure him to the big show later, but for now -- I think Lawal's best opportunity should come from Strikeforce.
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