‘King Mo’ gets replacement for RIZIN GP

Initially slated to face BAMMA heavyweight champ Godbeer, RIZIN FF has announced that ‘King Mo’ Lawal will instead fight former BAMMA light heavyweight title challenger; Brett “The Spartan” McDermott.

Brett McDermott (5-2) is coming off a quick (T)KO win at BAMMA 23 in mid-November, the same card where it was announced that Godbeer would be entering the tournament to represent BAMMA. He is most known for his KO power, with four of his five wins coming by stoppage due to strikes.

Lawal (16-4, 1NC) is a veteran of Bellator MMA as well as a former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion. He has won four straight since losing a controversial decision to ‘Rampage’ Jackson in mid-2014. Since then he has picked up stoppage victories over Vedepo and Jacoby, as well as a decision win at heavyweight over UFC-vet Cheick Kongo. His last fight was also part of a tournament, where he beat Linton Vassell in the semi-finals of a one-night light heavyweight tournament, but was forced out of the finals vs. Phil Davis due to a rib injury.

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The tournament bracket is:

Former Strikeforce champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (16-4) will represent Bellator MMA when he takes on former BAMMA light heavyweight title challenger McDermott (5-2).

UFC veteran and former KSW champion Goran Reljić (15-5) will take on undefeated Russian finisher Vadim Nemkov (3-0).

Olympic gold-medalist Judoka Satoshi Ishii (14-4-1) will fight outside of IGF for the first time in two years when he faces Czech knockout artist Jiří “Denisa” Procházka (14-2-1).

Lithuanian kickboxer Teodoras Aukstuolis (6-2) will represent Bushido vs. current Jungle Fight heavyweight champion Bruno Cappelozza (7-3).

Reserve:
Russian Valentin Moldavsky (1-0) faces 24-year-old multi-time Karate World Champion Yuta Uchida (0-0). 

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As confirmed a few weeks ago, all of the fights listed above will take place on the RIZIN 1 card on Decemer 29. The semi-finals as well as the finals will take place on the RIZIN 2 card on December 31 headlined by Fedor Emelianenko.

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