I mean, first there was Bo and now there's Mo. So, you know, it's an opportunity for somebody to really, you know, to step up and to do two things at the same time.
You're talking about a world-class athlete who is a wrestler, and you've seen the kind of success we've had with wrestlers whether it be, you know, the Warrens or whether it be the Askrens or whether it be the Cole Konrads or whether it be the Chandlers, they're used to going all the time.
This is, you know, a lot of fighters you go to and you say, "Three fights in three months," and they look at you and they go, "That's a lot of fights." I said, "Mo, three fights in three months," and he was like, "Could we get busier?"
So, you know, I think it's going to work beautifully and I think that he's going to be able to transcend and jump from one to another. He's going to get a lot of frequent flier miles and when this all stops in about four years, he can take his family anywhere they want to go.
Dann Stupp: Great. And then a quick question for Mo. Dana White had recently hinted that the door could be opened for you to come back to Strikeforce or even the UFC. Did that factor into your decision at all or was this just a much better deal in your eyes?
Muhammed Lawal: Well let's put it like this. The door's closed, you know what I'm saying? That's - it's plain and simple. The door is closed man. You know, it's like this.
I'm not going to wait for nobody, you know. If someone comes to me with something that makes sense and it's good and a great deal, I'm going to take the best deal.
And right now, the Bellator deal is the best deal you could possibly get, you know what I'm saying? Bellator and Impact Wrestling - that's the best deal you could possibly get and I'm glad I chose it.
Dann Stupp: Great. Thank you guys.
Dixie Carter: Thank you.
Operator: We'll go next to Sergio Non with USA Today.
Sergio Non: ...you all for taking the time today. The first question's for King Mo, sort of a follow up on what Dann Stupp was just asking. You mentioned that this was the best offer on the table.
Bjorn Rebney: Sergio you broke up for a second there.
Sergio Non: This is for King Mo. I guess I'm wondering why wait - why not wait to see if other organizations might be interested? Was there a compelling reason that you had to do a deal now or...?
Muhammed Lawal: What's your name again?
Sergio Non: Sergio Non.
Muhammed Lawal: Sergio, Sergio, okay. You know, let's be real man. There's only about two organizations out there. You got Zuffa and you got Bellator, you know. What's there to wait for, you know?
I could've waited for Zuffa to take me back in September, or I could take what Bellator and IMPACT Wrestling had offered. And really, you know, think about this.
You're - you have someone that says that you - they'll be around, and I hit you up. And then you got people that hit you up with Hulk Hogan, you know, Sting, you know, Dixie, Bjorn, you know, Kevin.
They're all calling me and I'm going to - I want to go with where I'm wanted. And if, you know, I'm not going to wait and - like a female waiting for some type of date. That's not me, you know.
Sergio Non: Fair enough. And the question for Dixie, you know, are there any concerns that you might have to limit what you're able to do with Mo because of his MMA work?
Like with Bobby Lashley as I recall, he just - he ultimately couldn't really balance doing both MMA and pro wrestling. What makes you confident that you'll be able to do it this time?
Dixie Carter: Well we never tried anything with Bobby. He did a short stint with us on IMPACT but we were not working, you know, within the MMA world that - at that time.
But with Mo I think it'll be more my concern for him not pushing it too hard to be honest with you, based on the conversation I've had with him. I'm not worried that I won't get enough.
I'm worried that he's going to want too much, and so I really don't have any concerns about it. He's - he is such an incredible athlete. When you really hear about how he trains, the kind of physical condition he stays in, I think it'll be great for him to stay, you know, in shape and focused on both at both times.
And I don't think quite honestly - I don't know if there's another athlete out there and if there are there's not but a handful that I think could potentially even pull this off. It's - he's a rare case.
Sergio Non: And I guess sort of the same question for Bjorn. When I think of for instance like Joe Warren, it didn't really work out for him ultimately trying to do both MMA and the Olympic trials at the same time.
How do you alleviate any concerns you might have about Mo being stretched too thin?
Bjorn Rebney: Well, see that's the magic of the synergy that exists underneath the Spike umbrella. That's - this is the first of a lot of different kind of synergistic pieces of the business that we're going to put into play.
And what it allows us to do is, you know, with all due respect to the U.S. Olympic Committee they don't work under the Spike umbrella with Bellator. But when you've got one family at Viacom, one umbrella that's really written the book in the MMA space and has created like I said - pushed the boundaries in terms of professional wrestling and developing incredible programming there with IMPACT, we're all sitting in one room.
Literally Kevin and Dixie and I are sitting together orchestrating how this will work, and we're working with Mo as a partner of ours, not as an employee but as somebody sitting down with us and saying, "Okay, how can we make this work?
How can we maximize it? When are the timeframes going to be - need to be more heavily focused on Mo's prep for a fight he's got coming up in the Bellator cage on Spike?
And... (Continues on next page)
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