Mo Lawal and Quinton Jackson have a feud going back to 2009, when the two jawed at each other during a promotional appearance. Though both light heavyweights, they were signed to two different promotions, which made a fight unlikely.
But in March, Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, bought Strikeforce, Lawal's promotion. Former Strikeforce fighters Alistair Overeem, Nick Diaz and Dan Henderson have recently crossed over to the UFC. Seeing that, Lawal asked for a fight with Jackson.
Lawal started his MMA career in Japan for Sengoku, while some of Jackson's biggest victories came there while he fought for PRIDE. After his loss to Jon Jones at UFC 135, Jackson asked if he could fight Mauricio "Shogun" Rua on the UFC's February card in Saitama, a rematch of their 2005 bout. (Rua won by soccer kicks, a move that it not under the Unified Rules that are in place for all UFC bouts.)
Rua is scheduled to fight Dan Henderson, another PRIDE vet, at UFC 139 in late November. A November to February turnaround is tough for any fighter, but would be particularly rough for Rua, who will have fought three times in 2011 and has had serious knee problems.
If not Rua, why not Lawal? It would be an effective way to bring over another Strikeforce fighter and give him a chance to prove himself. Not only that, but a Jackson-Lawal fight would be a draw in Japan as both fighters are popular there.
What do you think? Would you like to see Lawal take on Jackson? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook.
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