Strikeforce
Lorenz Larkin feels he has nothing to lose against "King Mo" Lawal; Lawal believes he'll take out the young lion
Jan 3, 2012 - 1:15:53 PM Lorenz Larkin feels he has nothing to lose against "King Mo" Lawal; Lawal believes he'll take out the young lion

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

On Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, rising light heavyweight Lorenz Larkin takes a major leap up in competition to take on former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal at Strikeforce "Rockhold vs. Jardine."

For the 25-year-old Larkin, this fight represents a no-lose situation for him, as a loss is essentially expected, and dropping a fight to a former champion at this stage of his career wouldn't be a massive blow to his career.

"I look at it like, what do I really have to lose?" Larkin said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "I'm not looking at it like I'm going to lose, but what is the worst outcome of this fight for me? I'm 25. I've only got three fights in Strikeforce. He has way more to lose than me."

For his part, Lawal isn't seeing too much of a challenge in the form of the flashy Larkin, and in fact believes fans are fooled by the flashiness of Larkin's attack into thinking it's more effective.

"I think a lot of fans, a lot of people – especially MMA fans – they're like, 'That guy must have great standup because he's doing spinning back heel kicks and stuff,'" Lawal said in a separate interview. "Just because he does spinning stuff and crane kicks doesn't mean you have great standup. It's flashy, but how effective is it?

"I think I'm going to be effective and solid from position. I'm going to put pressure on him, and you're going to see him break."

Regardless of Lawal's criticism of his game, Larkin is simply happy to be getting an opportunity like this so early in his run, and he hopes to make the most of it.

"I've only been [in Strikeforce] since last April," Larkin said. "And now I'm fighting for title contention, which is crazy to me. I was just excited to be on TV in April."

"If they didn't give me the fight with 'King Mo,' then I wouldn't care about the belt. But now, I'm not going to fight 'King Mo' and then ask to fight somebody lower than him and not go for the belt. If I'm going to fight for it then I'm going to fight for it."

Lawal doesn't plan on letting him do that, though, and makes it clear he's going to be a very different opponent than Larkin faced in his last outing.

"I'm not like Nick Rossborough," Lawal said. "Rossborough was like a tractor. He could go forward and backward, but had no lateral movement. Lorenz Larkin was able to move and just land punches. That's not going to happen with me. I have a great fight IQ. I'm going to set traps for him."

"He may be the young lion, but young lions get killed every day. They get murdered every day. You have to be tough and young to make it to an old lion."

"Still, I'm not old yet."

Penick's Analysis: This is a fight that in a lot of ways doesn't make a ton of sense. Larkin has been very impressive in moving his undefeated record to 12-0, but to give him such a leap from the first three fights he's had in Strikeforce to Lawal seems like too much too soon. While he's looking at it as a no-lose situation, it can still absolutely derail the run he's had. There is such a thing as moving fighters along too fast, and while he still very well could pull off the upset, Lawal's game is tailor-made to hold off a striker. Larkin's grappling game isn't near Lawal's, and that's going to be the toughest thing to deal with for him on Saturday night. If he can pull it off, it will make for an incredible story, but it's still such a big leap from what he's faced that it doesn't seem like the best fight for him. On the flip side, Lawal really doesn't have a ton to gain in a fight like this compared to what he could lose.