One fighter got back on the winning track while another decided to end his career at Bellator's summer debut on Wednesday night.
Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal was knocked out in his last Bellator fight, which was a surprising result for the onetime Strikeforce champ. Wednesday's fight with Seth Petruzelli was his first fight since then, and he came back with a memorable knockout.
Lawal wrestled Petruzelli to the ground, then finished the fight at 1:35 in the first round with a huge right hook. He needed just one punch to knock Petruzelli out. Lawal will move on in Bellator's light heavyweight tournament to fight Jacob Noe.
"It's kind of highly emotional for me to talk about this right now, but I think maybe I've been in the cage more than everybody in this room here," he said. "I lived the life. That's what I want to say. I have no regrets. I was happy to help this sport grow."
Noe earned his spot in the semifinals with a win over Strikeforce and UFC veteran Renato "Babalu" Sobral. "Babalu" lost in a third-round, standing TKO, then announced his retirement from MMA.
Sobral finished his career with a record of 37-11. He started fighting in 1997, and fought in Brazilians promotions and Rings before fighting at UFC 28. Sobral fought such fighters as Fedor Emelianenko and Chuck Liddell.
One of the more memorable moments of Sobral's career was at UFC 74 when submitted David Heath with an anaconda choke, but wouldn't break the hold when first instructed by the ref. He was later cut from the UFC and fined by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his wrongdoing.
Sobral then went to Strikeforce and won the light heavyweight championship before losing it to Gegard Mousasi. He also fought in One FC, and then Bellator before he hung up his MMA gloves.
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