Muhammed Lawal's Bellator debut scheduled for January

Muhammed Lawal after a victory in Strikeforce

MMAJunkie has reported that former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal will make his Bellator debut in January. The report cites Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney.

News broke of Lawal's signing with Bellator Fighting Championships back in May. At the time, the former champion was recovering from a serious illness and serving a banned substance suspension leveled by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

His new contract will allow his to compete in Bellator and perform for professional wrestling organization Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. According to the MMAJunkie report, the fighter is expected to make his TNA debut in October. Both franchises will broadcast on Spike TV in 2013.

Lawal made his MMA debut with a victory over Travis Wiuff in 2008. He won his first seven fights. In 2010, he took a unanimous-decision victory over Gegard Mousasi to claim the Strikeforce light heavyweight title. However, in his first title defense, he dropped the belt to Rafael Cavalcante.

Since his lone career defeat, Lawal's career has been adventurous. He lost a great deal of time with a knee injury and won a pair of bouts of Roger Gracie and Lorenz Larkin. However, his victory over Larkin was later changed to a "no contest" after he tested positive for Drostanolone.

Christian M'Pumbu currently holds the Bellator light heavyweight belt. He will make his first title defense against tournament winner Attila Vegh at a later date.