A Tale of Two Prospects: Muhammed Lawal and Bobby Lashley Take Different Paths to the Same Result

In many ways, you can't get any more similar than Bobby Lashley and Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal. Both were Olympic wrestling prospects, both started their MMA careers in the second half of 2008, and both were among the most marketable fighters in the fledgling Strikeforce promotion. And, yesterday, both added a mark in the loss column for the first time. The result was the same-the path entirely different.

Bobby Lashley was in the sport for a pay day. He never made any bones about it and has nothing to apologize for. Fighting is a big dollar business and Lashley, with a well known name after a brief pro wrestling career, thought he could cash in. But,at the same time, Lashley knew he wasn't ready for the sport's upper echelon of fighters. He told me in 2009 that making it the top of the sport would be a gradual process:

A lot of people don’t realize how many tough fighters there are out there. You can’t just come in and say ‘I could beat the champ.’ People don’t understand MMA if they think they can just go out there and beat the champ. There are people who have never wrestled before who are high calibre wrestlers. People who have never boxed professionally who are high calibre boxers. There are so many tough fighters out there that I believe you have to start off the right way and build yourself up. Then, if you have the ability, you can become a super superstar. As opposed to trying to scratch that lucky lottery ticket and win it all. I think the way I’m doing it is the way most people do it. People come in and think you can bypass the developmental stages. You can’t bypass that.

By 2010, little had changed. Lashley was slowly growing as a fighter, but still expressed doubt in an exclusive interview with me for the Houston Chronicle about stepping up to tough prospects or fighters in the prime of their careers:

"It's going to take some time. I'm only four fights into this thing, so I have to wait a little bit. My coaches are always trying to pull me back," Lashley told the Chronicle in an exclusive interview. "It's a learning process. In MMA, it doesn't matter if you have four fights or you have thirty fights. It's still a learning process. I only have four fights. So we still want to work on a few more things. I want to work on my standup a little bit more. I haven't used that much in real life situations, so I want to put myself into a couple of matches where I get to stand up with these guys. I want to test myself in a few different ways, and then we'll be ready for it. I'm thinking maybe two or three more fights, and I'll be ready for that competition."

Fans and less savvy media members were frustrated by Lashley's slow progress. But last night crystallized what we should have known all along-Bobby Lashley understood the level of competition he was prepared to fight much better than any of us did. The fact remains that Lashley has been slow to progress as a fighter, in part because he's been slow to train like a champion. Until 2010 he wasn't even training full time-professional wrestling obligations filled a significant part of his calendar. And there were whispers from training partners that Lashley didn't work hard enough, with Nate Marquardt publicly throwing the former pro wrestler under the bus in an interview with me for Heavy.com:

"I train with two of the best heavyweights in the world, Shane Carwin and Brendan Schaub.  And he's not anywhere near them," Marquardt said.  Then he laughed, but suddenly his eyes got very serious.  "I've trained with Bobby a couple of times and for some reason he doesn't have a loyalty to our team.  I've kind of written him off.  I'm loyal to my guys."

King Mo has taken an entirely different approach than Lashley. Unlike his fellow wrestler, Mo seems to sincerely love the fight game. He talked to us this week on Ring Psychology about staying up into the night watching YouTube videos and looking for an edge. He explained what he hoped to gain from that obsessive film work in an interview I did for Heavy.com:

King Mo: And my MMA knowledge. I watch so much film, I’m ready for anything. I watch a lot of film. People think I just go out there and it comes naturally but there’s a method to my madness. Smarts? I think I have them. I may not be the most technical fighter, but it’s coming.

Heavy.com: When you watch film how is it different than the way fans watch. When I’m watching I might just see a guy getting knocked out, but you’re looking at something else all together.

King Mo: Footwork, rhythm, body language. I never watch anything as a fan until after. When I first watch a fight I’m breaking it down. Then I’m like ‘Okay, I got it now.’ Then I can just sit down and enjoy the fight. I break down everything first now. MMA, boxing, K-1, small bum fights, wrestling matches. I love to watch and I store it all up here in my brain.

No one questions Mo's work ethic. He travels throughout the country, working with some of the industry's best, striving to improve his game. While Lashley was reticent about stepping up to tougher challenges, Mo has never been shy. He's taken on UFC veterans and tough guys from the get go. He fought Mousasi, widely considered the best prospect not under contract to Zuffa, and demolished him.

Work ethic and fighting spirit. They're a big part of the reason I think we haven't heard the last word from King Mo. For Lashley, this may be the end of the line. He is approaching 35 and simply doesn't seem to have what it takes to be a force in MMA. Mo is different. You have to get knocked down to prove you can get up-for King Mo this is just part of the process of becoming one of the greats.