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During the hearing for his failed steroid test for a January 7 bout against Lorenz Larkin, one of the issues that arose surrounded Lawal's pre-fight medical questionnaire. Lawal did not disclose anything he had been taking, be it supplements or medication for his knee injury, on the form, and that was an issue for the commission.
Lawal's manager, Mike Kogan, admitted that he had filled out the form and had failed to put any of the relevant information on it, though Lawal then signed it to give to the commission. Following that revelation, the following exchange occurred between Lawal and commissioner Pat Lundvall:
Lundvall: So no apologies for falsifying as far as the medical questionnaire is concerned? My question to you is, you signed this medical questionnaire after [Kogan] filled it out, did you not?
Mo: I did, I did
Lundvall: And you understand English? And you read English?
Mo: Mm hmm
Lundvall: And you knew as far as by signing this that the information on this medical questionnaire was supposed to be true and correct?
MO: Yes
That exchange, particularly the "And you understand English? And you read English?" portion, caused Lawal to lash out at Lundvall on Twitter following his eventual suspension being handed out. Lawal referred to her as a "racist bitch," and was clearly unhappy with the way she approached him on that front.
However, those comments led to Lawal's release from Strikeforce, as UFC President Dana White brought the hammer down. A calmer Lawal tried to explain things as he saw them late Tuesday night in an interview with Stephie "Crooklyn" Daniels at BloodyElbow.com.
"I came in respectful. I apologized to them for my attire. I came in speaking English. When they asked the questions, I answered in a timely fashion," Lawal said. "I felt I was disrespected by the woman's comments. How are you going to ask a college educated, well traveled man if he can speak or read English? I'm speaking English right in front of you, and I've been speaking English right in front of you for the past 15 minutes. I went there to tell my side of the story out of respect. I could have just stayed home, and let the commission fine me, and not made any effort, but I didn't. I showed up there as a man to give my side of the story, and take my punishment."
Lawal wasn't informed of his release directly, instead he said that Kogan was informed by Zuffa's Strikeforce matchmaker Sean Shelby. Still, while he understands he may have been out of line with his comments on Twitter, he believes he had a reason for feeling upset.
"It is what it is. Of course I want to fight for Strikeforce and fight for ZUFFA, but if they want to cut me for what I said, then I can't take it back, because it already happened," he said. "I have never been asked in such a condescending way if I could read or speak English like that. I did something wrong, so I can't really say I'm being treated unfairly. I don't know if it was excessive to cut me."
"Right now, I just want people to understand that I went in there respectfully, and that I'm not playing the race card," he continued. "I'm too old to play the race card. I'm established on the West coast now, and since I've been out here, I haven't experienced much racism. I've experienced some stereotypes and small prejudices here and there, but other than that, no, I haven't experienced too much, compared to when I was in the South. The woman's comments reminded me of times when I experienced racial insensitivity from other people."
"ZUFFA made a decision just off what was said on Twitter. I don't know if they care about what happened. I'm pretty sure they didn't hear any of the audio. They just made a decision off what went down on Twitter. I'm pretty sure Keith Kizer and certain people at the commission are mad, and I didn't mean any disrespect to Keith or the rest of the people in the commission. I just felt disrespected by that one person, that asked if I could speak or read English. To me, that was a blatant insult. Just listen to the audio. You'll see."
Penick's Analysis: Lundvall's comments were definitely intended in a sarcastic, condescending, and yes insulting manner, but Lawal went overboard in thinking there was anything racial to the situation. From the audio (Click here for audio of the hearing), it's clear that her line of questioning was to establish that yes, Lawal did indeed speak and read English, and therefore should have comprehended what was asked for on the medical questionnaire that he signed and submitted to the commission.
Was it a tactful line of questioning? No. Was it meant as an insult to Lawal? Probably. But getting on Twitter and referring to her as a "racist bitch" for that exchange is no less out of line. That's not to suggest that Zuffa made the right decision in cutting him. It was a reactionary move, and much like what happened with Miguel Torres it's highly likely Lawal will find his way back to the Zuffa fold after some time has passed and the UFC sees his side of the story.
However, his problem lies in how he chose to address it. Had he expressed his displeasure with what he felt was a "racist" line of questioning in the way he did with Crooklyn, he wouldn't be off the roster right now. But going on Twitter and ranting the way he did with a very vitriolic comment of his own was the absolute wrong way to go about things.
Now, he's recovering from a knee injury and a serious and continuous battle with staph infection. He's out of action until September at the earliest, and right now he doesn't have a fighting home. But don't be the least bit surprised if he finds himself in the UFC come years end.
Tony Fryklund Kazuyuki Fujita Masakatsu Funaki Zelg Benkei Galesic Mauro Galvao
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