Thursday, October 31, 2013
LONG BEACH, Calif. – A verbal dust-up spurred by a radio appearance has provided plenty of headlines for Muhammed Lawal and Emanuel Newton in advance of their rematch at Saturday’s Bellator 106, but Lawal isn’t putting much stock in them.
“King Mo,” in fact, doesn’t care much for most of what he comes across when he turns on his computer and visits the MMA webisphere. Even if there is blowback from him calling in to an online MMA show to call Newton a “black skinhead,” he shrugs his shoulders.
“Let’s keep it 100,” he told MMAjunkie.com during a workout for the media in advance of this weekend’s event. “Most MMA media, the stuff you report, for the most part, it’s dumb-ass headlines, like, ‘Mo delivered cookies before a big fight.’ It’s just TMZ news. It’s nothing really newsworthy, but people love it for some reason. I think it’s garbage.
“If you’re going to come with something, come with something legit, like, ‘Bigfoot overcomes acromegaly to become this.’ Something real news that you see in football all the time, and MMA for some reason, I could be doing this (and it’s) ‘Mo stubs big toe, fight in jeopardy.’ That’s the type of news that’s put out there, which is garbage. Seventy-five percent of MMA media need to step their game up. Fighters as well. We’ve got to step our game up, too. But I feel you all can pick and choose what you come up with, and you all could put out better stories, if you want to make it a real sport. Because right now, it seems like it’s almost spectacle and entertainment.
“I’m not trying to bash the MMA media. As a whole, we’re trying to make MMA into a big-time sport. We’ve got to step up our game as fighters and media.”
Lawal (11-2 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) is confident he’ll be stepping up his game for his second fight with Newton (21-7-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA), which co-headlines Bellator 106 at Long Beach Arena in California, and serves as an interim light-heavyweight title bout. The fight airs on the Spike TV-televised main card following prelims on Spike.com.
“I’m going to get payback with [my fists], and [my elbows], and the referee’s going to jump in and pull me off of him,” Lawal said. “What’s going to be different is I’m going to get my hand raised and you all will not, I repeat, you will not see that ugly-ass dance he does after he wins. I don’t know what the hell that is, man. He looks like a voodoo priest. You all won’t see that dance. Straight up.”
Asked earlier whether he regretted anything he said during the appearance, he shot back, “What did I say that was so bad?”
“I called him a black skinhead,” Lawal continued. “OK, I did my research. I saw a documentary a while ago about skinheads that follow a music genre called ‘hardcore.’ And he’s ‘The Hardcore Kid,’ right? He likes hardcore music. He does that ugly-ass dance, that stupid s–t. So I put two and two together and said, ‘Hey! He’s a black skinhead.’
“I’m not taking about no Aryan Nation. Is he Clayton Bigsby or something? I just said that he is black skinhead. I didn’t say he was a racist against his own people. He likes that hardcore music that skinheads like. That’s all. Is that bad? I didn’t say he was an Aryan Nation skinhead, because that would make no sense. That’s like saying black klansman. I’ve never seen it except on [The Dave Chapelle Show]. So the fans out there can kiss my ass. That’s my explanation. You don’t like it, whatever.”
Of course, comments such as that are considered headline gold to the media. If Lawal were writing copy, he would lead with a different angle.
“Grudge-match,” he said with a smile. “Revenge. Payback. Get-back. Because [my fight] is James Brown (song), beside he stole the girlfriend part. ‘I don’t karate, but I know crazy.’
“I feel like the theme of this whole card is people trying to come up. Newton trying to make a name for himself. I’m trying to beat Newton to get revenge. (Daniel) Straus and (Pat) Curran are both trying to make names for themselves, and … (Eddie) Alvarez is trying to get back in the spotlight, and Chandler’s like, ‘I’m the champ. You’re not getting your belt back.’
“It’s about guys trying to come up and be respected within an organization that a lot of people out there, UFC groupies, they downplay the whole card. I’ve seen people on Twitter saying, ‘Bellator failed because it’s (not) on pay-per-view.’ Why are you complaining about fights falling through when there are still fights left. Be happy you’re seeing fights for free. Don’t bash organizations because they have shortcomings. They’re fights. If you want to see lesser fights, go to a bar, get two people drunk, and then instigate a fight between them. You can watch a fight for free then. But if you want to see high-level competition, tune in to Spike TV Nov. 2 and watch this fight.”
For more on Bellator 106, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of the site Edit this article
Michael Chandler and Eddie Alvarez’s long-awaited rematch is live and freeEddie Alvarez says he knew all along he’d be Bellator 106′s main eventTwitter Mailbag: Tito’s health, Alvarez’s happiness, Bellator conspiracy plansBellator CEO Bjorn Rebney rings NASDAQ closing bellBellator’s Eddie Alvarez: ‘I don’t have any regrets because I tried my best’Radio: King Mo, K.J. Noons, Edson Barboza, Colton Smith, Yoel Romero, Scott KentBellator’s Tito Ortiz expects full recovery, return to gym in six weeks’Rampage’ Jackson vs. Joey Beltran headlines Bellator 108 on Nov. 15Video: Watch Pat Curran and Daniel Straus’ first fight from XFO 29Oct. 29 USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA Rankings: Machida with instant impactVideo: Bellator champ Michael Chandler meets Rick Hawn in first title defenseGeorges St-Pierre vs. Ben Askren? UFC champ weighs in on potential fightVideo: Chandler and Alvarez re-watch first fight on ‘Unfinished Business’Fans invited to Bellator 106′s open workouts and weigh-insWith Parisyan injured, Souza meets Garcia at Saturday’s Bellator 106 eventGlitz and glamour no concern for Bellator champ Michael ChandlerBellator 106 co-headliner Daniel Straus: Lesson learned with Jones-GustafssonSaturday’s Bellator 106 card gets a shakeup, five bouts on Spike TV main cardDana White takes a shot at Bellator’s pay-per-view cancellationRadio: King Mo, K.J. Noons, Edson Barboza, Colton Smith, Yoel Romero, Scott KentSaturday’s Bellator 106 card gets a shakeup, five bouts on Spike TV main cardTito Ortiz out with neck fracture, Bellator 106 moves from PPV to Spike TVVideo: Watch Emanuel Newton KO ‘King Mo’ Lawal at Bellator 90Bellator denies reports about champ Vegh, releases medical report (Updated)Muhammed Lawal-Emanuel Newton rematch for interim title on Bellator 106 PPVRadio (noon ET): ‘King Mo’ Lawal, Michael McDonald, Angel DeAnda, Dave HuckabaBellator 97 video highlights: Askren beats down Koreshkov, ‘King Mo’ cruisesBellator 97 results: Chandler KOs Rickels, Askren stops KoreshkovVideo: Bellator 97′s ‘King Mo’ discusses baffling origin of Jacob Noe feud’King Mo’ calls Semmy Schilt the greatest all-around fighter of all timeMMAjunkie.com Radio (noon ET): ‘King Mo’ Lawal and Jen WenkWith nine prelims, two title fights, card set for Bellator 97 in Albuquerque’King Mo’ promises to send Noe ‘back crying to his family again’ at Bellator 97′King Mo’ vs. Noe, Martinez vs. Minakov tourney finals added to Bellator 97′King Mo’ Lawal vs. Seth Petruzelli fight video from Bellator 96Bellator 96 results: ‘King Mo’ Lawal devastates, ‘Babalu’ Sobral retiresBellator 96′s Mo Lawal: Just need to win next three, and I’m straightRadio (noon ET): Muhammad ‘King Mo’ Lawal, James Krause, Josh Burkman
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Weary of MMA media headlines, 'King Mo' says Emanuel Newtown tag simple: revenge
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