King Mo: 'I Think Brock Got Pushed Too Fast, Too Soon to His Career'

Fighters usually just like to fight and that's it. But some fighters do step out to do broadcast work. You have guys like Frank Mir and Kenny Florian who have started to step out into the world of broadcasting for the UFC. Then you have the former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal.

Lawal is well diverse not only in MMA, but also in boxing, pro/amateur wrestling, etc. I talked to Lawal recently and I got his views on the happenings of Brock Lesnar, who abruptly retired from the UFC after his loss to Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 last Friday.

Lawal felt that Lesnar was didn't want to be in the UFC anymore even before the loss to Overeem.

"I knew he was done after he lost to Cain," Lawal said. "Because if you look at his demeanor after the post-fight interview, he looked like he was relieved that it was over and he was thinking, 'I am sure I want to do this anymore?' You can see it in his demeanor. You know, I've seen the eye on an athlete, I've seen it happen many times. Wrestling and everything, I can sense it with Brock after he lost to Overeem. I knew that was it."

Some people have said that Lesnar looked defeated and couldn't wait to get done with the fight. Lawal saw some tendencies that support those assertions and feels that Lesnar got too much, too fast.

"I think he was nervous," Lawal said. "Then he tried to hype the crowd up by singing/rapping to a song and then when it was over, he went into the cage and that's when he looked defeated when he stepped into the cage. I think Brock got pushed too fast, too soon to his career and probably because he makes a lot of money. If they woulda built him on right, he could have been a great heavyweight fighter. I think he helped save the UFC and make them more marketable because he has such a big following.

"As far as a fighter, he never had the chance to develop the skills to become an all-around fighter because his first fighter was in K-1 and he beat the judo guy. The second fight was against Frank Mir. He pretty much rushed Frank Mir and got submitted. His third was with Heath Herring, which was a good fight. But after that, he fought Randy. The fight with Randy is where I started saying, 'Hey, this guy is about to get hit.'

"Randy got a few shots on him and I saw him flinching. So I was like, 'Well maybe it was a one-time thing.' Then he fought Frank Mir the second time, where Frank took a one-two combo, went for the knee and missed. I was like, 'OK, Brock doesn't like to get hit.' So when he fought Shane Carwin and showed when he fought Cain and definitely showed against Overeem."

A lot of people have made that assumption that Lesnar didn't like to get hit because he was in the WWE and he felt he was invincible, as he had been proclaimed as the "baddest man on the planet."

Lawal definitely feels that was the case and has strong feelings on why people feel like Lesnar didn't like to get hit.

"I think so," Lawal said. "But at the same time, I think he knew that he was getting paid a lot and they (UFC) had to rush him. Personally, I heard he was running his own show. I think maybe in training he got hit and didn't like it and they (training staff) modified things, so he wouldn't have to get hit. He never got adjusted to getting hit. No one likes to getting hit, but after awhile you tolerate it. You don't think nothing of it."

You can listen to the two-part interview with King Mo here.

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Steven Muehlhausen is a contributor for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand.