After a fantastic amateur wrestling career that saw Muhammad Lawal earn NCAA Division I All-American honours while wrestling for Oklahoma State, a Division II NCAA Wrestling Championship at Central Oklahoma, in addition to being ranked the number one wrestler in the United States for three straight years (at 84 kilograms), Lawal turned his attention to the sport of mixed martial arts in September of 2008. A heavy underdog when he was matched up against the much larger Travis Wiuff, Lawal shocked the MMA world when he knocked out the respected veteran just two minutes into the first round, after he had taken the bout on short notice and with almost no MMA training at all.

A phenomenally gifted natural athlete, Lawal has the type of explosive, raw talent that simply can't be teached in the gym. His wrestling pedigree and takedowns are excellent, and he simply drives through his opponents with powerful shots and big, strong slams (see bouts with Mark Kerr, Ryo Kawamura). On the ground Lawal shows excellent top control where he looks to unleash big powerful punches and is a very hard hitter who can do significant damage in a short amount of time if he's landing(see bouts with Kerr and Fabio Silva), and shows excellent overall potential in his ground and pound abilities. His technical grappling abilities, BJJ and submissions skills are relatively untested at this point, and if he can improve them to anywhere near the level of his wrestling abilities he has the potential to be as complete a fighter as anyone on the ground. Despite his wrestling background and ground and pound abilities, Lawal has not shied away from the striking aspect of MMA one bit. In fact, he's probably become better known in his early career has for his explosive striking potential and naturally heavy hands then his aptitude on the ground. Not surprising given his athleticism, Lawal has proven an excellent natural boxer who moves very well on his feet, shows great handspeed, and possesses incredible punching power. Lawal displays a willingness to keep the fight standing, where he shows good instincts in the clinch and a fantastic right cross that has served him very well in his early career. With almost no standup training he staggered Wiuff with a lightning quick superman punch; he's also knocked out Yukiya Naito standing and displays a rapidly developing striking game which will only improve as he gains the technical proficiency to match his raw talent.

After KO'ing Wiuff, Naito, and Fabio Silva, decisioning the former light heavyweight King of Pancrase Ryo Kawamura and brutally stopping three time UFC Heavyweight Tournament Champion Mark Kerr, Lawal signed with Strikerforce in October of 2009 where he will look to continue to entrench himself as one of the top prospects in MMA.