King Mo cut by Dana White

Published: 1^st Apr 12 11:10 pm

by Chris Shelton
Houston Sports Blogger

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Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

Former Strikeforce champion, Mohammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal no longer has a relationship with the company where he made his name in the US.

Lawal followed the current celebrity athlete trend and went on a twitter rant after a nine-month suspension was levied on him by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. He charged that racial bias was present in the line of questioning that he faced.

“I honestly feel like Lundvall was a racist b***h asking me if I can read or speak english.”

“Go on somewhere with that [expletive]!!!” Lawal tweeted.

Lawal attempted to clarify, saying that he was not indicting the entire commission. Further stating that his experiences with racism and bias caused him to react the way he did to the incendiary line of questioning.

“Its funny how people are tryna say that I’m callin the commission racist,” he tweeted. ”No!! They aren’t. But there was one person on the panel that was out of line with the question she asked me. I found it insulting, prejudice, and a lil racist. I say racist from my past experiences, I have been asked that in the past as an insult.”

Soon after, Dana White decided to drop Lawal from the Strikeforce roster. Leading many to question the inherent unfairness of the decision to cut certain fighters but, for reasons that can only be explained by green, rectangular sheets of paper, revenue generators are kept on the roster amid similar scandals.

Lawal was a popular fighter who could have competed at the UFC level, however he did not have the name value of a Rashad Evans to survive the wave of criticism. The name Lawal does not generate the same number of pay-per-view buys as Forest Griffin.

Evans evoked an alleged child rapist when describing how he would finish an opponent. Griffin made a joke about rape.

According to mmajunkie.com, “the NSAC voted unanimously to suspend and fine Lawal for a failed drug test following his appearance at “Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine.” Lawal is suspended nine months from the date of the fight, fined 30 percent of an $80,000 “show” purse, and he must surrender his $15,000 win bonus. Additionally, his win has been changed to a no-contest, and he must provide a clean drug test when he reapplies for a fight license in Nevada.”

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