"King Mo" Sidelined Nine Months for Knee Surgery

Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal could be out nine months with a knee injury, Sherdog.com reported.

Lawal's manager Ryan Parsons told Sherdog that Lawal will undergo knee surgery to replace both his anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee.

Lawal injured the knee last Saturday when he lost his Strikeforce light heavyweight title to Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante at Strikeforce: Houston.

Parsons said that Lawal will undergo surgery next Tuesday in Los Angeles.

FightMetric Scores for Strikeforce: Houston

FightMetric.com has released their report for Saturday's Strikeforce middleweight championship fight between Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza and Tim Kennedy, and the results show just how close the fight was, at least statistically.

Leger: Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (RJ), Tim Kennedy (TK), Total Strikes (TS), Significant Strikes (SS), Takedowns/ Attempts (TD/ATT), Fight Metric Effectiveness (EFF), Ten-Point Must System (Score)

	TK TS	RJ TS	TK SS	RJ SS	TK TD/ATT	RJ TD/ATT	TK EFF	RJ EFF	SCORE
ROUND 1	9	15	9	15	0/0	0/0	42	95	10-9 RS
ROUND 2	11	9	11	8	0/1	0/1	57	54	10-10
ROUND 3	19	19	7	7	1/2	0/0	59	64	10-9 RS
ROUND 4	14	5	0	0	0/1	0/1	35	20	10-9 TK
ROUND 5	16	12	16	12	1/2	0/1	77	71	10-9 TK
TOTAL	69	69	48	47	2/6	0/3	270	303	48-48 DRAW

The hard part of using statistics in MMA is that the numbers are not as cut and dry as they are in other sports.  When a baseball player hits 40 home runs, you know he hit 40 home runs. In MMA, just because fighter A lands more strikes than fighter B, fighter A doesn't win the fight every time.

This is the case for "Jacare," who we scored winning the fifth round 10-9 despite being outlanded 16-12 and giving up a takedown. We scored it as such because the punches "Jacare" appeared to be more damaging. So while looking at numbers are helpful, they don't always tell the whole story.

FightMetric is an awesome tool, but it is also important not to take statistics at face value.

Strikeforce: Houston Post-Fight Thoughts and Impressions

 - Andre Galvao notched a nice come-from-behind victory over Jorge Patino after Patino had him all but stopped in the first round. The win was overshadowed, though, by a horrendous stoppage by the referee. Patino had taken maybe two concrete shots with Galvao on his back, and was in absolutely no danger of being finished.

- Daniel Cormier reminds me of an early Rashad Evans; a shorter heavyweight with lightning-quick wrestling. Cormier would do well to follow Evans' career and drop down to light heavyweight, because his height (5'11) will continue to be a hindrance against the giants of the heavyweight division.

- Bobby Lashley needs to do a better job of setting up his takedowns. Lashley was taking shots from far away with no feints or fakes. That allowed Chad Riggs to time the takedown and land an uppercut that split Lashley wide open.

- That being said, the decision to restart Lashley and Riggs standing when Lashley had been in full mount was an indefensible decision by referee Jon Schorle, and it cost Lashley the fight. A winded Lashley flailed for a takedown after the restart, and Riggs was able to pound him out with hammerfists from the sprawl. Would Lashley have been able to last through a third round given how tired he was? Probably not. But there is no question that Schorle robbed Lashley of the opportunity to try. BloodyElbow.com does a nice job of breaking down Schole's incompetence here.

- Frank Shamrock's assessment that wrestlers should be willing to give up position to attempt submissions is ridiculous in most circumstances. As Lashley was pounding away in the mounted position, Shamrock (and the entire announce team) bemoaned Lashley for not going for an arm bar attempt. If I was cornering a fighter, I would much rather see him stay in dominant position and inflict damage than attempt a submission that causes him to lose dominant position if he misses it.

- Jorge Gurgel's refusal to use his jiu jitsu talents might make him a more exciting fighter, but it won't win him as many fights. His decision to stand toe to toe with heavy-handed KJ Noons meant that a KO wasn't an 'if,' it was a 'when.'

- Not much to say on the "Jacare"/ Tim Kennedy fight. "Jacare" looked improved on the feet, and showed that he can win a fight without his vaunted ground game.

- "Feijao"'s takedown defense was the key to his victory. Even when "King Mo" was able to take him down, "Feijo" was able to work back to his feet quickly. Mo won the second round, but it was evident early that "Feijao" would be able to finish the fight if it stayed on the feet.

Strikeforce: Houston Results

Main Card:
Rafael "Feijao" def. Muhammad "King Mo" Lawal by TKO (strikes) at 1:14 of Round 3 to win the Strikeforce light heavyweight championship
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza def. Tim Kennedy by unanimous decision (49-46, 48-47, 48-47) to win the Strikeforce middleweight championship
KJ Noons def. Jorge Gurgel by TKO (punches) at 0:19 of Round 2
Chad Griggs def. Bobby Lashley by TKO (strikes) at 5:00 of Round 2

Sherdog.com Stream:
Andre Galvao def. Jorge Patino by TKO (strikes) at 2:45 of Round 3
Daniel Cormier def. Jason Riley by submissions (strikes) at 1:02 of Round 1

Preliminary Card:
Vinicius Magalhaes def. Rocky Long by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Adam Schindler def. Kier Gooch by submission (rear naked choke) in Round 1
Reynaldo Trujillo def. Jose Santibanez by TKO (strikes) in Round 1
Chad Robichaux def. Humberto DeLeon by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Arteneus Young def. Chad Cook by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 30-27)

Strikeforce: Houston Weigh-In Results

Join TapouTVTC.com as we bring you the weigh-in results for "Strikeforce: Houston," tentatively scheduled for 3:00 PM CST. If you are in the Houston area, you can also attend the weigh-ins for free. Doors open to the public at 2:30 PM.

Main Card:
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (203.75) vs. Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante (203.5)
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (184.75) vs. Tim Kennedy (185)
KJ Noons (156.25)*** vs. Jorge Gurgel (154.75)
Bobby Lashley (246) vs. Chad Griggs (228.5)

Preliminary Card:
Daniel Cormier (249) vs. Jason Riley (256.5)
Andre Galvao (170.75) vs. Jorge "Macaco" Patino (did not weigh in)
Vinicius Magalhaes (144.5) vs. Rocky Long (146.25)**
Adam Schindler (155.5) vs. Kier Gooch (155.5)
Jose Santibanez (154.25) vs. Reynaldo Trujillo (155.25)
Chad Robichaux (131)* vs. Humberto Deleon (127.25)
Chad Cook (205.25) vs. Arteneus Young (204)

* Robichaux will have one hour to drop one pound. Texas does not allow one-pound allowances for catch-weight fights (explanation courtesy of Sherdog.com)
** Long weighed in .25 pounds over the limit, but Magalhaes accepted a catch weight
*** Gurgel waved off Noons' extra .25 pounds