NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Bellator MMA fighter King Mo Lawal.

After winning a unanimous decision on December 16 at Bellator 169 in Dublin, Ireland, against Olympic gold medalist judoka Satoshi Ishii, King Mo will be making a quick return to action, also on the road.

Last year he won the Rizin Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament at Rizin's two-day end of the year show in Japan, and this year he returns in the second round of the Rizin Fighting World Grand Prix 2016 open weight tournament.

His opponent in this round will be MMA veteran Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. This fight will take place Thursday, December 29, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The finals will take place Saturday, December 31.

We spoke with King Mo by phone Thursday.

Despite the quick turnaround for this fight, he is confident that he will defeat Cro Cop and advance in this tournament.

"I'm just going to go out there and handle business," he said. "I got a game plan we're working on right now, implement it, and get that 'W'.

"If I can stop him, I'm going to stop him. If I have to grind him out for a few rounds, I'll grind him out."

As for his fight with Ishii, he said Ishii is basically a martial artist, and, "He's not a fighter. He's an athlete that fights."

We discussed the logistics of how it was decided after the Ishii fight on such short notice that he will be fighting in this Rizin tournament in Japan, how he is prepared to fight three times in two days if he goes to the finals again, what was billed as the final fight for Bernard Hopkins, and much more.

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Labels: Bellator, Bernard Hopkins, Cro Cop, Eddie Goldman, Grand Prix, King Mo, MMA, No Holds Barred, Rizin, Satoshi Ishii