Just 12 days before the curtain is drawn on Bellator 131, Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (pictured) has been issued a new assignment.
Lawal was originally salted to battle Tom DeBlass in the November 15 event, but Deblass has been forced to withdraw after suffering a nasty cut on his right eyebrow during training. Lawal will now face an ecstatic Joe Vedepo.
“This is just an absolutely blessing,” Vedepo said. “When I got the phone call to fight on November 15, I didn’t even need to hear who the opponent was, I was all in. Mo’s tough as hell, he’s one of the best wrestlers in the sport, but I haven’t stopped training in months and I know this is a chance of a lifetime. I always thrive on coming into the fight as an underdog, and while I have all the respect in the world for a guy like King Mo, underestimating what I bring to the cage would be a huge mistake.”
Vedepo will be riding a three-fight winning streak into the light heavyweight affair. He was last seen knocking out Davin Clark at Bellator 129 in October.
Lawal has alternated between wins and losses over his past five outings. The part-time TNA wrestler most recently posted a TKO victory over Dustin Jacoby in August.
Stream the prelims live right here on 5thRound.com starting at 7PM ET/4PM PT. Spike TV broadcasts the main card at 9PM ET/PT.
Here is the show’s revised agenda:
Preliminary Card:
(5thRound.com)
Ian Butler vs. Joao Faria
Rolando Perez vs. Mark Vorgeas
Andy Murad vs. Bubba Pugh
Matt Ramirez vs. Nick Garcia
Jordan Bailey vs. Alex Higley
Ron Henderson vs. Jonathan Santa Maria
AJ Matthews vs. Kyle Bolt
Main Card:
(Spike TV 9PM ET/PT)
Nam Phan vs. Mike Richman
Melvin Manhoef vs. Joe Schilling
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs. Joe Vedepo
Michael Chandler vs. Will Brooks (Bellator interim lightweight champion) (for vacant Bellator lightweight title)
Stephan Bonnar vs. Tito Ortiz