STOCKHOLM – Former Strikeforce champ Muhammed Lawal (8-1) is still unemployed and unlicensed, but UFC president Dana White on Saturday seemed to suggest there may be a light at the end of the tunnel for "King Mo."
White praised Lawal for his recent dealings with the Nevada State Athletic Commission and made it clear that while the light heavyweight still has a serious challenge ahead of his, the UFC boss would be willing to at least talk about a return to Zuffa umbrella.
"We'll see how this whole thing goes down," White said following Saturday's post-UFC on FUEL TV 2 press conference. "The fact that he called her and reached out to her, I mean that's what he should have done. It's respectable. I respect that."
The NSAC, of course, addressed a disciplinary complaint filed against Lawal during a March meeting in Las Vegas and unanimously voted to suspend and fine Lawal for failing a post-fight drug test following his win over Lorenz Larkin at "Strikeforce: Rockhold vs Jardine" in January. The bout's result was also changed to a no-contest.
During the hearing, Lawal and his manager, Mike Kogan, attributed a positive test for a metabolite of the steroid Drostanolone to an over-the-counter supplement used to treat a nagging knee injury.
Later, Lundvall asked Lawal whether he understood and could read a pre-fight medical questionnaire, to which the fighter answered yes. Moments before, Kogan said he filled out the questionnaire after Lawal initially claimed to do so.
After the hearing, Lawal tweeted that he was offended at being asked whether "I can read or speak English" and called Lundvall a racist and derogatory term for women before deleting the message.
White responded by releasing Lawal.
On Saturday, White explained his logic for the move and said it didn't have to do with any personal hatred toward the fighter but rather to protect his own business from drawing any NSAC ire for essentially supporting such an act.
"Some of the dummies in the press started talking about me cutting him as if this was something between me and him," White said. "What people have to understand, this is way bigger than me and him. First of all, this guy is an unlicensed fighter. He's not licensed. He just got busted using something. Everybody has their due process. He will have his day before the commission. He went before the commission, and they said, 'We're suspending you for nine months,' and he got whatever was handed down to him. Now, he has to go before the Nevada State Athletic Commission again before he can get licensed.
"He called her a racist [expletive]. These are the people that oversee me, too. These are the people that can tell me, 'You can no longer have a license.' It's bigger than me and him. It's bigger than that. So he's got his own problems before he's got to deal with me. You understand what I'm saying? He's got to go back before the commission to get licensed."
White said he anticipates that process will not be a simple one.
"I'm going into court, and before the judge hands this sentence to me, I say, 'Hey, judge, before you sentence me, I'd just like you to know that I think you're a [expletive],'" White said. "'Alright, go ahead. What do you want to do to me now?' That's literally what he did.
"Before he gets licensed again, he has to go before the Nevada State Athletic Commission, and that is not going to be a fun day for him, I would have to imagine. Maybe I'm wrong."
Lawal's suspension ends in October, and he is free to apply for a license in Nevada after that time. Other commissions around the country would likely require Lawal to patch up the NSAC relationship before being granted a license, so simply avoiding Nevada is not a realistic option.
Should he jump through those hoops, it appears a return to Strikeforce – or perhaps even a move to the UFC – could be possible.
"Everybody makes mistakes," White said. "I say this all the time, and it's all in how you handle yourself after the mistakes.
"I'm not Mr. Perfect. I've made a lot of mistakes myself, and I will make more. There's other guys, too. Tito Ortiz still fights in the UFC."
