The King has fallen, and Feijao now reigns supreme.

The King has fallen, and Feijao now reigns supreme.

Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante realized his dream on Saturday night as he TKO’d Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal in the third round of their title fight main event at Strikeforce: Houston. The victory crowned him the new Strikeforce light heavyweight champion.

Prior to the fight, Feijao talked at great length about his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu pedigree under the Nogueira brothers, as he aimed for a ground fight with the former NCAA All-American wrestler. While the fight did hit the mat a couple of times, it seemed Lawal was more than happy to test his stand-up against Feijao’s.

It didn’t turn out to be the best idea.

Feijao may have flaunted his submission skills, but he’s known more for his knockout power and he proved that, connecting with a devastating knee strike in the third round after catching Lawal behind the head with his Thai plum.

Getting cracked flush in the forehead sent “King Mo” backwards and just a few seconds later, Feijao clipped the champion with a big right hand that sent him crashing to the canvas.

Trying to recover in just a brief moment, Lawal grabbed onto Cavalcante’s leg to try to survive, but the Brazilian started to reign down elbow strikes while the fighters were clinched. After watching one of the champion’s arms go limp as he dropped to his knees, referee John McCarthy saw enough and put a stop to the punishment.

“I have a new coach in the boxing and the Muay Thai,” Feijao said about the knockout. “This of course is not about me. This is about my coaches, my team, Team Nogueira, my partners, trainers; this is about them. They give me support.”

The support paid off as Feijao handed Lawal not only his first loss as a fighter, but took the light heavyweight belt that he won just one fight ago. Cavalcante’s performance showed tremendous improvements, as well as great patience not to push the fight. His aggression has cost him in past fights. He credited the victory to all the hard work he did in the weeks leading up to the fight.

“Somebody asked me before the key to win this fight. Training, training, training,” said Feijao.

Now a winner of three fights in a row, including his TKO victory to claim the Strikeforce light heavyweight title, Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante is sitting on top of the world, and he’s happy to be there.

“I’m just living my dream,” he declared. “This (I) always want; I always want to be here. Today I am here.”

Source: MMAWeekly