M-1 Breakthrough Preview: Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal Headlines Talent-Filled Main Card

While M-1 has received a lot of criticism in the media as of late due to their rumored handling of Gegard Mousasi's contract, denial of the rumored contract offer by the UFC to Fedor Emelianenko, and the move of the M-1 Breakthrough card from L.A. through a multi-city change that has ended in Kansas City, the promotion still has a list of solid talent that has the ability to put on a spectacular show. M-1 Breakthrough will take place on Friday, August 28th from the Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kansas, and it will air LIVE on HDNet at 10 PM EST. The undercard will stream LIVE on Sherdog.com.

The card will be headlined with a heavyweight tilt between MMA legend Mark "The Smashing Machine" Kerr (15-10) against wrestling standout and up-and-comer Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (4-0). The event will also feature an exhibition bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Gegard Mousasi along with fights featuring some of M-1 Global's talent in Lucio Linhares, Rob Broughton, Karl Amoussou, Lloyd Marshbanks, Daisuke Nakamura, and Ferrid Kheder.

Mark Kerr was a late replacement after Don Frye pulled out of the event due to the venue changes and the promotion's inability to promote the event in a limited amount of time. Kerr comes in with a 3-10 record since his undefeated streak was ended by Kazuyuki Fujita at the 2000 Grand Prix Finals in PRIDE.

Most fans put the blame on his losses following the loss to Fujita on the fact that Kerr was no longer deemed an unbeatable force, but a guy who could actually be beaten if his opponents had the ability to land punches successfully. He went 1-2 in his next 3 fights following the loss, and lost a return bout against Yoshihisa Yamamoto at PRIDE 27 in 2004. He left the sport for the birth of his son, and returned once again in 2006 in the IFL with a loss to Mike Whitehead. Even more disappointing, he's lost nearly all of his recent bouts in the first round.

Lawal may have some of the best wrestling credentials in the sport. Most notably, he's a D-II American Folkstyle wrestling champion, Texas State High School champion, and a D-I All-American at Oklahoma State. He moved into the Real Pro Wrestling league, a league that pitted actual wrestlers (non-WWE) against each other in competition, and won the inaugural and only season championship. He moved on to training for the 2008 Olympic games, but fell short on qualifying for the games despite being ranked the #1 freestyle wrestler for nearly two years. He won gold at the Pan-Am Games, the U.S. Freestyle Nationals in 2002, and won a number of international freestyle events that included wins over past Olympic champions. 

Lawal is a highly-hyped newcomer to MMA that has the wrestling credentials to plow through much of the competition outside of the UFC at heavyweight or light heavyweight. His striking isn't overly technical, but his ground and pound coupled with his control is demoralizing to anybody in the ring with him. Kerr is a shell of his former self, and some fans believe Kerr simply competes to earn paychecks (i.e. see Taktarov battle at YAMMA). Lawal should plow through Kerr in this very lackluster main event showdown.

Check out videos and other analysis of the entire main card after the jump...

M1-Global: Breakthrough on HDNet coverage

The other major attraction that M-1 is banking on is an exhibition match-up between Strikeforce and M-1 Global fighters' Gegard Mousasi and Fedor Emelianenko. Emelianenko is arguably the #1 fighter in the world at heavyweight and pound-for-pound while Mousasi is staking a claim to being an up-and-coming force in the light heavyweight ranks. Since this is an exhibition bout, we're more than likely to see both Fedor and Mousasi laughing hysterically while putting on an entertainment grappling match.

HDNet Fights and K-1 announcer Michael Schiavello posted a piece on the M-1 Global website trying to garner some interest in this fight as a way for Mousasi or Fedor to gain insight about each other for a potential future showdown at heavyweight. While that's an interesting angle, I really doubt that's the case.

The real talent of the card is in the five main card fights that don't include Lawal vs. Kerr or Mousasi vs. Fedor. Brazilian BJJ black belt Lucio Linhares (12-4), who strangely fights out of Helsinki, Finland, has amassed a 12-4 record in his career with a mixture of TKO victories and submissions. He will take on Russian Mikhail Zayats (8-3) in a middleweight rematch of their M-1 Challenge 4 bout in which Zayats upset Linhares via decision. Zayats comes into the bout with two straight losses, one to Jae Young Kim and the other to Alexander Machada, while Linhares rides a four-fight win streak that includes quick wins over former UFC fighter Sean Salmon and current M-1 standout Karl Amoussou.

Former Cage Rage veteran and heavyweight fighter Rob Broughton (10-4) will take on Dutch submission specialist and BJJ brown belt Jessie Gibbs (8-2). The bout has some interest due to the past bouts that Broughton has managed to win within Cage Rage. He defeated James Thompson, Robert Berry, current UFC fighter Neil Grove, and Eric "Butterbean" Esch under the promotion's banner. While those wins aren't anything impressive,. he has shown some better ground defense under the M-1 banner.

The major problem is that Gibbs has legit submission skills, and Broughton hasn't had a ton of experience dealing with great grapplers in the past. If anybody actually watched the Neil Grove-Rob Broughton showdown in Cage Rage like I had, you'd realize that Broughton isn't exactly an elite striker by any means. Many fans don't realize that Gibbs also has some titles under his belt in Kyoshokin Karate and Taekwondo.

French M-1 prospect Karl Amoussou (10-2-1) will take on John Doyle (8-8) in welterweight action. This is simply a showcase bout for Amoussou as Doyle has been TKO'd four times in his career. Doyle is currently 2-7 in his last 9 bouts, so it doesn't look too good for him on paper. Amoussou was set to fight Nick Thompson, but the fight was scrapped due to a cut sustained by Thompson in training.

Amoussou will have the obvious striking advantage in this fight as he's well-known for his heavy hands and fighting style. He has some submission skills on the ground as well, but he'll more than likely be looking to exploit Doyle's proven weaker chin. Look for Amoussou to show off why he's nicknamed "Psycho" and compared to the style of Wanderlei Silva in this tilt.

Lloyd "Kadillac" Marshbanks (17-8) is a surprising prospect in M-1's heavyweight ranks. If you aren't attracted by the nickname "Kadillac", then think about a 250 lb. heavyweight putting opponents in neck cranks, the under-utilized kimura, and heel hooks. He even put his last opponent in a rarely seen scarf hold at M-1 Challenge 16 back in June. He'll try to use his jiu-jitsu prowess against Polish fighter Michal Kita (5-3), who also happens to be a submission wrestler. This should be a great chance for Marshbanks to show off his submission skills on a more highly-exposed live card.

Rounding out the main card, Daisuke Nakamura (19-10) and Ferrid Kheder (13-4) will meet in a lightweight showdown. Most fans will recognize Nakamura's name from his appearances in DEEP, PRIDE, K-1 Hero's, DREAM, and Cage Rage. He's most known for his flashy submission game that produced two flying armbar submissions in 2008, one of those being under the M-1 banner. His most recent bout was a loss to Mitsuhiro Ishida at DREAM.7, but he did pull off a victory over Hideo Tokoro in a ground chess match at Dynamite! 2008.

Kheder is a very interesting opponent for Nakamura. Kheder is a Tunisian judoka who placed 7th in the 2000 Olympic Games in Judo while also placing third in the 2000 European championships and third in the 2001 and 2002 African championships. The 34-year-old is currently riding an eight-fight win streak that includes a knockout win over Drew Fickett. Kheder also happens to train at Team Quest.

Ferrid has obtained some Muay Thai skills along with some submission techniques to add to his judo background, so he should actually be a stiff test for the quick-transitioning Nakamura. This should be a lightweight match-up that hardcore fans should be take some interest in as it's a bit rare to see a solid judoka at lightweight enter the MMA ring.

Karl Amoussou vs. Lucio Linhares

Mikhail Zayats Highlight

Jessie Gibbs vs. Alexander Murawski

Karl "Psycho" Amoussou highlights

Lloyd Marshbanks Highlights

Ferrid Kheder vs. Christos Petroutsos

Daisuke Nakamura Highlight