Three weeks after ending his year-long hiatus, Bobby Lashley easily picked up his second win of 2013.
Fighting in the main event of ‘Global Warrior Challenge: The British Invasion,’ the former WWE star bulldozed through Matt Larson en route to a first-round submission victory in Kansas City, MO.
Lashley shot for a single leg takedown from the opening bell, worked to Larson’s back, then forcefully slammed him down onto the canvas. From there Lashley unloaded a salvo of short punches, before retaking Larson’s back and locking in the fight-ending rear-naked choke.
The win improves Lashley’s professional MMA record to 9-2. Larson, meanwhile, falls to 2-3 with the loss.
“I got a couple more fights to go before we take that big step,” Lashley said afterward. “But I just keep getting more comfortable in this cage. And when I get comfortable, I get dangerous. So I can’t wait for the next one.”
In the night’s largely uneventful co-main event, Polish light heavyweight Marcin Lazarz pulled off the mild upset, defeating former UFC champion Ricco Rodriguez via unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards: 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.
Lazarz moves to 6-1 with the win, while Rodriguez drops to 51-20 in defeat.
“(Ricco) is an ex-UFC champion,” Lazarz said. “I had to get his name on my record.”
Complete ‘GWC: The British Invasion’ results can be found below.
- Bobby Lashley def. Matt Larson via submission (rear-naked choke) at 1:38 of round one
- Marcin Lazarz def. Ricco Rodriguez via unanimous decision
- Andre Winner def. Drew Fickett via unanimous decision
- Kendall Grove def. Danny Mitchell via TKO (strikes) at 4:53 of round one
- Oli Thompson def. Kevin Asplund via TKO (strikes) at 3:21 of round one
- L.C. Davis def. James Saville via unanimous decision
- Dayman Lake def. Jake Heun via submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:34 of round one
- Jack Marshman def. Wayne Cole via TKO (strikes) at 3:26 of round one
- Max Nunes def. Justin Davis via TKO (strikes) in round one
- Michael Johnson def. Jerome Martinez via unanimous decision
- Jake Murphy def. Tony Hervey via unanimous decision