King Mo enjoys fighting in Japan but hopes to be fighting soon for StrikeForce.
MMAMADNESS: How did you get into mixed martial arts?
KING MO: I saw old UFC. I saw the previews for it, and they were really fighting. I started watching it, and my boy was like they do it in Japan and Brazil better, so he gave me some old Vale Tudo videos and Japanese PRIDE tapes. After that I was like man, this is where it’s at.
MM: What was your first experience when you started training?
KM: I remember this one dude. I was working on wrestling before a fight, and he’s like hey, why don’t you try and take me down and I’ll throw punches at you. I was like, ‘alright, cool,’ and I took him down. He was throwing punches, and I took him down over and over again. He was like, ‘try and stay on top of me and I’ll try and submit you.’ It’s funny how, if they put you in an armbar or an ankle lock or stuff like that, you don’t tap. When they do it slow and show you how it works and what it’s doing to you, you feel the pain. The first time I got armbarred, my arm was popping, but I didn’t tap. Then he put me in a triangle choke, he was choking the hell out of me, but I wasn’t going to tap. He was like, ‘this is what you feel,’ a triangle choke and an ankle lock and an armbar do to you. From then on I felt that s**t. He would do those moves on me and I’d be like okay, tap. From then on I was like I like this, I’m going to pursue this.
MM: When you were watching those old fights, was there anyone you looked up to?
KM: I liked them all, because they got in there and fought.
MM: Is there a dream opponent you’d like to face? Maybe someone you’d like to test yourself against.
KM: Nah… When you test yourself against somebody, it’s like you’re saying, ‘I can’t beat them, I want to see how good I can do.’ I do that in practice. I like to see how good I can get in practice, not when I’m competing. I want to have a few more fights before I start calling people out. I told myself after a few more fights, I’m going to start calling out names. Got to go out there and fight some bigger names.
MM: Is there any location where you’d like to fight?
KM: I’d like to fight in Russia, I’d like to fight in Dubai, I’d like to fight in Brazil. I’d fight in Japan every day.
MM: What’s the best part of being a professional fighter?
KM: I can train every day, learn how to beat somebody up. It’s a dream job. Everybody likes to fight, imagine fighting for a living. It’s a true thing.
MM: Where did the nickname come from?
KM: My boy gave it to me. He gave me that in 2005 or 2006. I got it tattooed on my arm. He told me, ‘once your done, you do what you do, people are gonna call you King Mo.’… I was like ok, I’ll stick with it. The Japanese can say it easier. At first it was going to be 25/8, instead of 24/7, 25/8. I was going to do that, but then my boy gave me King Mo, and I liked that better. It had a ring to it for MMA.
MM: You’re very close with StrikeForce fighter Daniel Cormier. Tell me about your relationship.
KM: The funny thing is, back then Daniel and me were kind of rivals. He was a better wrestler than me. He was my first college match ever. I went to Oklahoma, he went to Oklahoma State… [A mutual friend] was like Daniel Cormier’s so good, I was like f**k Daniel Cormier. I’m thinking that I’m going to beat everyone… I took him down quick, like the first ten seconds of the match. I took him down again and went out of bounds. I was getting cocky, so I shot a double leg, and I didn’t know he could throw, and he threw he f*k out of me. From then on, he just destroyed me. We wrestled four times, he beat me four times… He kind of noticed my weakness, because back then I used to… burn myself out, not pace myself… [Cormier] was training with Mark Munoz, and he showed me the ropes, and then Dan helped me out with freestyle and we started traveling together… We started Team Thirsty. Me, Rashad Evans, Daniel Cormier, we gonna stay team thirsty. We go for the finer things in life, the things that make you happy. We want to do great things.
MM: When are you looking to fight next?
KM: I was talking to StrikeForce, but I can’t take a fight yet because my knee is not 100 percent. I’m focusing on strengthening that up. I was looking to fight November 7, but my knee didn’t hold up. If I want to fight, I need to be training at close to 100 percent. I want to go out there and fight and then fight another, not get hurt in the fight and sit out longer.
