Strikeforce light heavyweight superstar "King Mo" Lawal. Photo credit: Esther Lin/Strikeforce

By Joshua Molina

Strikeforce superstar “King Mo” Lawal is fuming over allegations that he intentionally used a banned substance leading up to his second round KO victory over previously undefeated Lorenz Larkin on Jan. 7, a result that was subsequently overturned to a no contest as a result of Lawal’s post-fight drug test result.

Lawal tested positive for the steroid Drostanolone. He said that the substance was in an over-the-counter product that he purchased in 2010.

“I have had the same bottle since 2010,” said Lawal, the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion. “The thing expires this year. If I had known it was off he market. I would have thrown it away.”

Lawal has a hearing before the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) in March, but he isn’t going to protest the results of the drug test. He just wants his fans to know that he didn’t try to cheat or gain an unfair advantage over his opponent.

“It would be a different story if my body changed and I became a big Brock Lesnar,” Lawal said. “Look at my body. My body didn’t change.”

The positive test has temporarily halted the momentum of Lawal, who was a on a two-fight win streak, and appeared poised to reclaim the title that he loss to Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante by way of third round TKO on Aug. 21, 2010.

The supplement product that allegedly caused Lawal to fail his post-fight drug test this month

“I’m just frustrated and irritated and mad at myself,” he stated. “I made a mistake.
Everybody makes mistakes. It’s not like I am out there and saying, ‘Let me find some steroids.”

And he has strong words for anyone who suggests otherwise.

“I am not a person who cheats,” he told Full Contact Fighter. “I have nothing to hide. I have no reason to cheat. I am out there to compete because I love to compete.”

Lawal, a former three-time U.S. Senior National Wrestling Champion and an NCAA Division II national champion for University of Central Oklahoma, said he has been drug tested hundreds of times over the years. He’s always been clean.

He bought the product, he said, at a Maxx Muscle store in Dana Point, Calif. He only used it three times, he said, the first being after his unanimous decision defeat of Gegard Mousasi for the Strikeforce title on April 17, 2010.

“I bought this stuff in 2010 and all of a sudden it is illegal,” Lawal said.

He said that anybody who wants to question whether he willingly took steroids “can say whatever they want. It’s not like I am out there cheating.”

Lawal promises his fans that he will return and that their support means a lot to him.

“I am going to come back better and smarter.”