Lawal Says Goodbye to the Ring

After 11 cracking years, Muhammad Lawal has decided to take his leave and retire from his beloved sport. He will not fight again, it is with immediate effect which we are sure will come as a disappointment to many, but he has a good reason for hanging up his gloves as bonusbets.com reports.

Lawal, who is also known by the nickname King Mo is a bit of a legend having fought thirty-one times during his career. Now at thirty-eight years old, his health concerns are the main reason behind his decision to retire. He has suffered from a number of different issues and has received multiple surgeries in an attempt to fix damage to both his knees and hips, as well as numerous other areas, which makes sense why he would want to retire.

His career dates back to college where he started to make a name for himself, before transitioning into MMA. He became a Division II National Champion, and followed that up with a Division I All-American run, so taking his career to the next level became an obvious next step. Switching into MMA, he secured the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion title by defeating Gegard Mousasi in only his seventh professional fight, earning him a lot of respect.

In an interview with MMAFighting, he came clean about the reasons for his decision. “It’s been on my mind for a while. I just put it in the back of my head. It was the pain from the injuries that was messing me up and my lack of range of motion from my hip and my knee. I’ve been fighting most of my career with no legs, a messed up knee or a messed up hip and after I had that hip surgery where they put titanium metal in my hip, it kind of made me think — I’m going to need a knee replacement, I’m going to need an elbow replacement, I’m going to need a hip replacement. I was like I’m getting old, I’m 38, I’ve got kids. I can’t even run right now. I can’t even jog really. I’m that bad. It’s to the point where if I can’t jog or sprint or be explosive, then I’ve got to stop.”

The surgeries and repeated injuries have had a noticeable effect on his body, and recovery has undoubtedly taken a toll on him. The hip injury, in particular, has kept resurfacing leaving his mobility so impaired he could barely bend to tie his shoelaces, or even get to his feet. “I had so many surgeries. Probably 30 or 40 surgeries. I remember the first time I had anesthesia when I had my ACL done, I went right to the movies and watched a movie after that. Now, as I’ve gotten older when I get the anesthesia, I don’t know where I’m at. I look all jacked up. My last surgery, I was like this is my last surgery because my body doesn’t act the same.”

Fans will undoubtedly be sad to see his career come to an end, but on a personal level it has to be the right decision for him to retire and we hope that he had a successful future.