The crowd at the Mohegan Sun did not hesitate to show their disapproval of Muhammed Lawal’s path to victory, but he clearly could not care less as he walked out of the cage with his hands raised.

Lawal took the fight to the ground and gained the point advantage due to takedowns and top control time. Once Kongo was on his back, he would not make it back to his feet until the round expired. Kongo almost made it back to his feet when he wall-walked up, but Lawal took him back down right away.

Fans can say whatever they want about how boring this fight was, but Lawal walked in and got exactly what he wanted: the “W”. It was Kongo’s job to either a) defend the takedown or b) figure out a way to get back to his feet. He could do neither and as a result of that, he suffered a big loss.

Muhammed Lawal def. Cheick Kongo by way of Split Decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)