Fighters Only

Issue 091

August 2012

All the head-turning information every MMA fan needs to know

‘KING MO’ SIGNS DUAL DEAL WITH BELLATOR AND PRO WRESTLING ORGANIZATION TNA

Former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal has inked a rare two-way deal with premier MMA promotion Bellator and pro wrestling company TNA’s Impact Wrestling.

The former Oklahoma State wrestler, who once had a tryout for the WWE, is expected to join Impact Wrestling this summer before debuting in the Bellator cage in 2013 as part of the promotion’s recurring light heavyweight tournament. Bellator and the TNA organization share the same broadcasting network, and Bellator is set to join Impact Wrestling on Spike TV on 2013.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said: “King Mo is an incredible athlete and a great addition to the Bellator family. He immediately adds prominence and star-power to our light heavyweight division.”

Lawal added: “I will win the [Bellator light heavyweight] tournament, and I will get that belt. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to knock out people in the cage and hit people with chairs in the ring. Either way, I’m winning.”

Lawal is currently serving a nine-month suspension from mixed martial arts competition, handed to him from the Nevada State Athletic Commission after failing a January drugs test.

MIESHA TATE SAYS RONDA ROUSEY ARMBAR ‘BASICALLY TORE EVERYTHING’

Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate has revealed the grizzly Ronda Rousey armbar she tapped to in March “tore everything” in her elbow joint. Late in the first round of their title bout, Tate finally submitted to Rousey due to an armbar so deep her elbow joint appeared to be bent nearly 90 degrees back on itself.

“I tore the inner and outer sides of my ligaments attached to the muscles and bone,” Tate told Strikeforce and Invicta FC commentator Mauro Ranallo. “They actually pulled the bone off with the ligament and then I tore all the muscles around that. So it was pretty bad, but, you know, for me it wasn’t really that bad.” Rousey is expected to defend her title for the first time against Sarah Kaufman in the Strikeforce ring in August.

The UFC donated $5,000 to the Bronx Academy of Letters due to the New York City school’s extracurricular jiu-jitsu club, as part of the promotion’s Octagon of Excellence community outreach.

Canada accounts for 25% of the UFC’s global commercial closed-circuit television sales.

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