Why Mo Had To Go

By Raphael Garcia

Social media has cost numerous people their jobs over the last few years, and on Tuesday it may have caused Zuffa to send another fighter to the unemployment line. Muhammed Lawal was released after a tumultuous day for the former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion saw him go from suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to being released from his Strikeforce contract. When Murphy’s Law hits, it hits hard, so now the former champion is without a large sum of money and a job. While his recent comments and actions may have been enough for the firing, it’s not the fact that he said it; more so the problem was who his comments were directed towards.

The first of bad news came when “King Mo” was informed that he would be suspended for 9 months due to failing a drug test before defeating Lorenz Larkin back on January 7th. Along with the time off, he has been fined 30 percent of his fight purse, which totaled $39,000. Lawal appeared in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission to state his case, but his efforts were met in vain, as the suspension was still enacted. Yet that was only the start, as Tuesday quickly spiraled out on control.

Lawal took to his Twitter account and went on a rant against the punishment levied by NSAC. He made statements that called commission official Pal Lundvall a “racist bitch.” Lawal pointed towards questioning in which she asked if he can read, understand, and speak English, if he owns a computer, and if he has an email address. Before the night was over, Lawal was cut from Strikeforce by Zuffa executives, leaving many to wonder if his social media statements were the reason the company sent him out the door.

Lawal is not the first individual in the company to make ridiculous comments through Twitter or any other way. You can easily find video clips of Dana White making disparaging comments about a female reporter, or Chael Sonnen making eye-raising comments about Brazil as a nation. We all can remember Marcus Davis’s “I hope Dan Hardy dies of AIDS” tweet back in 2009. However, he fought for the company for two more years after that. What made Lawal’s comments so unacceptable to Zuffa executives is the fact that he verbally attacked a NSAC commissioner.

Zuffa needs to maintain a positive relationship with each and every governing body within the United States and beyond to help the growth of their sport. Allowing Lawal’s comments to go without swift action would have given a negative perception to the commissioners on those boards. In a conversation with MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, Lawal’s manager Mike Kogan asked the interesting question:

“Who would you rather piss off, King Mo or a commissioner that you have to work with?”

Removing an employee based on inflammatory comments is not something that is new to the UFC. Miguel Torres was cut from the promotion because of his Twitter comments based around a rape joke. Weeks later he was reinstated after showing remorse for his actions. Todd Duffee is another example of a fighter who was sent packing from the company after making negative comments towards individuals in power. It is very apparent that Zuffa will not tolerate its fighters going over the “line” when it comes to statements made in any public outlet, but the grey area is where that line is. Forrest Griffin made controversial comments about rape as well, but his position seemed to not be threatened in any way. Quinton Jackson used Twitter to air his negative feelings towards UFC brass and he was given a major battle against a big name opponent. As social media continues to expand, it’s important to have a policy such as this in place, because an employee’s comments can quickly gain steam and blow up in everyone’s face. What is worse is when the company in question seems to protect some fighters while shuffling others off for the same type of offenses. The issue is the lack of consistency in how the company handles each situation as it comes to light. As that lack of consistency becomes more apparent, the questions around their actions will continue to gain steam. 

Zuffa executives should have taken the time to completely review the situation before acting in such a manner. Review the audio of the hearing to see if the commissioner’s comments could be taken out of turn and then react. If you look at how the other major sporting bodies deal with situations such as these, those organizations never make quick judgments, but instead look into the situation entirely and then drop the hammer on the parties involved if need be. Take the NFL’s recent suspension of New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton. Instead of coming down with a quick judgment, those in power reviewed all information available over the course of two weeks before announcing the staggering punishment. Zuffa, on the other hand, often acts in the exact opposite manner by leaving any punishment that they deem justifiable and doing so in a quick fashion.

As “King Mo” continues to battle with health issues, he now has to add a suspension and being unemployed to his list of concerns. While it isn’t known if he will ever fight under a Zuffa banner again, the former champion will not be able to say he isn’t aware of how a Twitter rampage can cost him an opportunity. Agree with it or not, Zuffa did what it had to in order to keep their partnership with athletic commissions across the world in working order.