Muhammed 'King Mo' Lawal meets Emanuel Newton at Bellator 90 in Salt Lake City

Following a one-punch knockout win in his Bellator debut, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal has the date for his next fight.

Lawal (9-1 MMA, 1-0 BFC) meets Emanuel Newton (19-7 MMA, 2-1 BFC) in the Season 8 light heavyweight tournament semifinals next month at Bellator 90.

Bellator 90 takes place at Maverik Center in Salt Lake City. The main card airs on Spike TV following prelims on Spike.com. The card will be headlined by the featherweight tournament final between Rad Martinez (14-2 MMA, 4-0 BFC) and Shahbulat Shamhalaev (11-1-1 MMA, 2-0 BFC), a fight that was delayed from Season 7.

Lawal this past week made his promotional debut in the tournament's quarterfinals and stopped Przemyslaw Mysiala (16-8 MMA, 0-1 BFC) in the first round. It was Lawal's first fight in more than a year after his final fight for Strikeforce, a win over Lorenz Larkin that was overturned when Lawal tested positive for steroids.

After a series of events that included a suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, his release from Strikeforce, surgery and hospitalization for a serious staph infection, Lawal signed with Bellator with a deal that also allows him to be a part of TNA Impact! Wrestling.

"I said it after my quarterfinal win, and I'll say it again: I'm looking to smash this dude," Lawal stated. "Emanuel is a tough guy, but I know where my game is at, and if I focus on me, we won't have any issues on Feb. 21. I'm always looking for that first-round knockout – and that's it."

Newton, at Bellator 85, the promotion's Season 8 premiere, picked up a quarterfinal win over Atanas Djambazov (17-3 MMA, 0-1 BFC) with a second-round rear-naked choke. Newton has seven wins in his past eight fights.

"This is my time," Newton stated. "Everyone knows Mo and what he brings to the table, and he's the guy I have to get through to get to my belt. The belt is what I'm here for, and it doesn't matter who is in my way to get there."

http://www.mmajunkie.com/news/2013/01/muhammed-king-mo-lawal-meets-emanuel-newton-at-bellator-90-in-salt-lake-city

These tournament fights have a quick turn around. Looking forward to Mo back in the cage. I hope to see a future Mo/Vegh title fight.

After an explosive knockout victory in his Bellator debut, King Mo Lawal is set to return to the Bellator cage when he battles “The Hardcore Kid” Emmanuel Newton in a Light Heavyweight Semifinal fight on Feb. 21 from Utah’s Maverik Center live on Spike TV.

Bellator 90 will also feature the long anticipated Featherweight Tournament Finals as Utah’s Own Rad Martinez battles the dynamic Russian striker Shahbulat Shamhalaev for a $100,000 Tournament prize and a guaranteed title shot.

Tickets for the event start as low as $40 and can be purchased by visiting Ticketmaster.com, Bellator.com and the Maverik Center Box Office.

The event will broadcast LIVE starting at 8 p.m. MST on Spike, as well as in Spanish language on mun2. The preliminary card will be streamed LIVE and FREE on Spike.com starting at 6 p.m. MST.

“I said it after my quarterfinal win, and I’ll say it again, I’m looking to smash this dude,” King Mo said. “Emmanuel is a tough guy, but I know where my game is at, and if I focus on me, we won’t have any issues on Feb. 21. I’m always looking for that first round knockout, and that’s it.”

“This is my time. Everyone knows Mo and what he brings to the table, and he’s the guy I have to get through to get to my belt,” Newton said. “The belt is what I’m here for, and it doesn’t matter who is in my way to get there.”

For Martinez, the West Jordan native makes his Utah homecoming riding an impressive five fight win streak, including Bellator tournament victories over top featherweights Nazareno Malegarie and Wagnney Fabiano. Already tasked with preparing for the biggest fight of his career, Martinez knows what’s at stake with his hometown crowd behind him.

“To have the opportunity to fight in Salt Lake City for the Bellator Featherweight Tournament Championship is just a dream come true,” Martinez said. “Utah has a great base of MMA fans, but we’ve never had a big MMA promotion come to Salt Lake City, so it’s a great honor to be headlining Utah’s first large scale MMA event.”



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