‘King Mo’ Lawal off BKFC 66 due to injury, return from retirement delayed

Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal won’t be making his return from retirement as scheduled at the upcoming BKFC 66 card on Sept. 13 in Hollywood, Fla.

The Bellator and Strikeforce veteran, who last competed in 2019, suffered an injury in training that forced him off BKFC 66, where he was expected to face BKFC champion Dave Mundell. Promotion officials confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Wednesday.

Lawal’s comeback arose unexpectedly after he retired five years ago mainly due to a long list of injuries that continued to pile up over the years. Following the end of his fighting career, Lawal turned his attention to coaching, where he’s become one of the lead instructors at American Top Team in Florida.

With his body healed up and still training alongside many of the top fighters in the world, Lawal decided to return to action but told MMA Fighting that he isn’t planning on sticking around for more than maybe a couple of fights.

Now it appears he’ll have to wait until a later date to make that return.

As for Mundell, he won’t stay on the Sept. 13 card against a new opponent but instead is expected to shift to a different BKFC event later in the year.

BKFC 66 moves forward with Alberto Blas defending his bantamweight title against Ryan Reber, while Howard Davis takes on James Brown in the new co-main event.