By Shawn Smith

​The animosity between Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is no secret to anyone who follows mixed martial arts. That hostility was on full display during a conference call on March 22 ahead of their rematch at Bellator 175.

Lawal and Jackson traded barbs throughout the call, often ignoring reporter questions to focus on arguing with one another.

“The MMA fans, they no fools, they no suckers; they know a real rivalry when they see one,” Jackson said. “They know King Mo has a big mouth and I think most MMA fans want me to shut his mouth.”

Lawal responded, saying “He can say most MMA want him to shut my mouth, but if they do they are going to be disappointed on the 31st.”

Lawal and Rampage first met at Bellator 120 in May of 2014, with Jackson taking a unanimous decision. “King Mo” has disputed the decision and cites the fighting surface as part of the reason he struggled.

“Under the Bjorn regime, the canvas was cheap, blue velvet,” Lawal said. “People were slipping. They’ve tried to change it up a little bit. When I fought Linton Vassell (A unanimous decision victory for Lawal at Bellator 142 in September, 2015), I was ice skating all over the canvas. Now they’ve changed it up.”

Jackson, ever the linguist, responded.

“On the 31st, King Mo gonna slip and slide into an ass whooping,” Jackson said, laughing hysterically. “I fought on that canvas several times and I ain’t never slipped and slided. Not once.”

In the leadup to this rematch, Lawal has taken to Instagram to make fun of Jackson’s fluctuating weight and desire to move from light-heavyweight to heavyweight.

The two argued about what weight division this fight was taking place at, Lawal saying it was heavyweight and Jackson insisting it was a catchweight bout, before concluding that it was indeed a heavyweight bout. After coming to a conclusion, Jackson accused his coaches of lying to him about what weight limit for the bout.

“King Mo want to talk about weight, thinks he can hurt my feelings and stuff like that,” Jackson said. “It ain’t no secret that I’m older now, I’m an older fighter. I have a thyroid problem, I’m on medication but what I did was adjusted to the problem. I saw a specialist and we decided to go heavyweight, lift weights and get bigger. King Mo can fat shame me all he wants, I didn’t ask to fight King Mo.”

When Lawal insisted that he “don’t care about weight”, Jackson responded “We can tell weight don’t matter to King Mo, look at his girlfriend. We can tell he don’t give a f*** about weight.”

Jackson insisted that his future as a fighter will be in the heavyweight division, citing his aging body and a thyroid problem. He added that “You guys have no idea how much King Mo Motivates me.

“I wish more of my opponents would talk s*** like King Mo. I’m not even motivated most times I go out there to fight, I don’t even care. I enjoy fighting, I love fighting, it’s the training I have to get motivated for. King Mo has motivated me more this camp than I’ve been in several years. “

Bellator 175 will take place live on Spike TV. The co-feature will be a featherweight bout between Emmanuel Sanchez and Marcos Galvao.