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Bobby Lashley: Everything You Need to Know About Bellator’s Latest Heavyweight

The worlds of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts will collide on a major scale yet again when Bobby Lashley steps into the Bellator MMA cage on Friday. He walks into the heavyweight division as the current TNA World Heavyweight champion, but that will not mean a thing to combat fans. Much of the fight-sports community may know of Lashley for his accolades in the world of choreographed fighting, but this run is an attempt to gain MMA fame at the same time.

The fighter known as “The Dominator” will bring a 10-2 record when he debuts during Bellator 123. Most fans and experts alike would pick Lashley‘s record apart for the lack of wins against viable competition in the sport. Victories over Wes Sims and Bob Sapp are perhaps his best wins to date. Unfortunately for Lashley, his two defeats have come to James Thompson and Chad Griggs; two fighters who could be considered “journeymen” in most mainstream circles. Still, that has not deterred the athlete from attempting to make another run in mixed martial arts.

“I want to swing for the fences and go after some of the bigger names,” Lashley told Mike Bohn of MMA Junkie. “This is my last run, so I don’t want to make it gradual. Some of these next few fights, there’s some guys I really want to get in the cage with.”

Bellator MMA is the right place for Lashley to attempt this push. Since bringing Scott Coker into the company as the new president, it’s clear that the company is looking to move more towards entertainment than the strict format that handcuffed the company. Match making will now favor a more creative approach with the intention of attracting the mainstream combat-sports fan.

“I think what we want to see is where our championship fights put star vs. star, so we’re going back to basics,” Coker said in a report by Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports. “We’re going to build the company with a strong foundation and move forward from there.”

Lashley is coming around at the perfect time for Bellator MMA to use him as a part of that foundation. The heavyweight division is one of the more prominent groups in combat sports. Bellator does not have a strong roster of heavyweights and Lashley can quickly find himself in position to challenge for their world title. He immediately has more star power than current heavyweight champion Vitaly Minakov. When paired with the fact that he is the current TNA wrestling heavyweight champion, the cross promotional opportunities would be abundant. Even through outlets such as TMZ are reporting that Spike television is separating themselves from the TNA wrestling promotion, there is still value that can be pulled from his presence in Bellator‘s circle cage.

Lashley will also greatly benefit during this return if he can string together victories. His initial attempt to gain Brock Lesnar-like fame in the world of mixed martial arts did not go so well, but he still has enough name value to be worth Bellator‘s investment. However, he still needs to win and that fact makes his coming fight against Josh Burns just as important for Bellator MMA as it is for Lashley himself.

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MMA’s All-Tough-Guy Team

The sport of mixed martial arts has a plethora of tough guys. Very few participants in MMA are viewed as anything other than tough. Some fighters stick out as being especially tough and can give and take what seems like immeasurable amounts of punishme…

If we were to assemble a team of the toughest fighters in MMA today, what would it look like?

The definition of a tough guy is “a menacing man.” One of the criteria for our All-Tough-Guy Team will be that fighters need to be active. So Kazushi Sakuraba, Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture and Rickson Gracie won’t be on the team.

A certain amount of the toughness requisite to making the team needs to be exhibited outside of the cage. Mean-muggin’, ice-grillin’ and keeping it real 24/7 are all things that might earn a fighter a spot on the team.

But not shoving.

Most of what makes someone tough enough for the All-Tough-Guy Team happens in the cage. Epic comebacks, ability to take punishment and finishing instinct will carry the most weight in deciding who makes the top of the list, but everyone on the All-Tough-Guy-Team could make at least a serviceable Avenger or Expendable.

Special consideration will be given to guys who are generally pretty nice when they aren’t fighting but are just that tough when they get in the cage.

Here is MMA’s All-Tough-Guy Team.

Begin Slideshow

MMA’s All-Tough-Guy Team

If we were to assemble a team of the toughest fighters in MMA today, what would it look like?

But not shoving.

Special consideration will be given to guys who are generally pretty nice when they aren’t fighting but are just that tough when they get in the cage.

Here is MMA’s All-Tough-Guy Team.

Begin Slideshow

MMA’s All-Tough-Guy Team

If we were to assemble a team of the toughest fighters in MMA today, what would it look like?

But not shoving.

Special consideration will be given to guys who are generally pretty nice when they aren’t fighting but are just that tough when they get in the cage.

Here is MMA’s All-Tough-Guy Team.

Begin Slideshow

‘King Mo’ Lawal’s Career Will Be in a Death Spiral If He Loses to Dustin Jacoby

“King Mo” Lawal’s run of unfortunate outcomes has continued its pace for nearly four years. Even though he’s found victory multiple times during that period, his career has not experienced the “boom” that was once expected. Now,…

“King Mo” Lawal‘s run of unfortunate outcomes has continued its pace for nearly four years. Even though he’s found victory multiple times during that period, his career has not experienced the “boom” that was once expected. Now, after serious injuries, being fired from the UFC and a stunning knockout defeat, Muhammed Lawal is at a career crossroads coming into Bellator 123. Dustin Jacoby will be the individual standing across from him and he has the potential to send the former champion’s career into a complete downward spiral.

If “King Mo” could step into a time machine, 2010 would perhaps be his first destination. This was the year when everything was going great for the Las Vegas native. Although things would not end well later on in that calendar, he would win the Strikeforce title from Gegard Mousasi in April of 2010. To this date, this is still the biggest win of his career. Since that point Lawal has not had the easiest of times being the high-level mixed martial artist that many pundits thought he would become. In fact, his career has been quite the letdown.

First, it was the TKO defeat to Rafael Cavalcante where he would lose his only moment of holding a mainstream title. After a win over Roger Gracie he would be forced out of competition due to a knee injury, which would become a recurring issue in his career. In 2012 he would then defeat Lorenz Larkin just to have the win overturned because the Nevada State Athletic Commission would find Drostanolone in his drug-test results, as reported by Ken Pishna and Erik Fontanez of MMA Weekly.

Things would only get worse for the former champion. The UFC would purchase Strikeforce, which would give them access to Lawal fighting in the Octagon, however he would never have the chance to perform for the organization. After his hearing in front of the NSAC he made inflammatory statements towards NSAC Commissioner Pat Lundvall on his Twitter profile (via MMA Mania). That comment would result in his jettison from the organization as a whole as they would not stand by and allow him to make such statements.

Lawal did not stay a free agent for long as Bellator would pick him up and give him an opportunity to become a professional wrestler in TNA Wrestling while competing in in their MMA promotion. The way he was announced into the organization made it seem like the company was expecting him to become a major star. Unfortunately for all the parties involved, that would not occur.

In his second fight for the promotion, “King Mo” would face Emanuel Newton. In the first round of the contest he would eat a spinning back fist that would make Lawal the victim of one of the most played knockouts of 2013. Lawal would come back and win two straight just to be defeated by Newton again; this time in an even more convincing fashion.

Bellator MMA would get another opportunity to feature Lawal dead center as he would face Quinton “Rampage” Jackson at Bellator 120. Lawal would suffer a decision defeat but what was worse is that many felt he actually won the bout with his wrestling attack. This would be yet another setback for Lawal that would leave him looking like the odd man out in the pecking order within the company.

Lawal has a winning record with Bellator MMA at 4-3 but he’s yet to defeat any opponent of value. His inability to win the big contests has placed a damper on the outlook of his career. This is where Jacoby enters the picture. At 10-3 Jacoby can actually be called a “UFC Veteran” even though he’s suffered two defeats in the promotion. According to MMA Oddsbreaker, Jacoby will come into the event a +400 underdog to Lawal‘s -600 favorite. Just as the numbers represent, Lawal has everything to lose in this fight.

If Jacoby can pull off the upset victory, which he is capable of doing, “King Mo’s” career would be in jeopardy. As Scott Coker leads Bellator into reshaping itself as a MMA promotion, Lawal‘s value to the organization would be damaged with another defeat. He would also place himself to be cut from the organization if he can’t live up to the standards that were placed on him when signed. To make the matters worse, he would have a difficult time rejoining the professional wrestling world as well. According to TMZ, Spike TV recently canceled TNA Wrestling which means they may not be interested in bringing back their high-price “star.” If he were to lose his slot on the Bellator roster, his opportunities in MMA on the mainstream level would be drastically low.

Injuries, controversy and disappointing performances have plagued Muhammed Lawal‘s career. The former Strikeforce champion is facing a major uphill climb that begins at Bellator 123. The world of professional sports is a fickle place that can turn on an individual with one good or bad performance. If Lawal goes out and earns a win in a drastic, highlight-reel fashion, then he will be on his way to earning the love once again of the MMA community. If not, this may be his last time performing in a mainstream mixed martial arts promotion.

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UFC Chiding Dana White over Judge Removal Was a Nice, but Empty Gesture

To say that Dana White and the Ultimate Fighting Championship have gone through a tough couple of weeks would be quite the understatement.
Injury-riddled cards and fan opposition to “weak” events have stood out in headlines for the largest …

To say that Dana White and the Ultimate Fighting Championship have gone through a tough couple of weeks would be quite the understatement.

Injury-riddled cards and fan opposition to “weak” events have stood out in headlines for the largest mixed martial arts promotion in the world. However, one of the most interesting stories of the last few weeks featured a move that Dana White made at UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Le. Snatching a judge from his post early in the night may have seemed like the right move to make at the time.

The UFC’s admonishment of White was the right move to make but in the end will be an empty gesture.

The situation began early in the card with two controversial victories. Milana Dudieva and Royston Wee walked out of the Octagon after winning two split decisions over their opponents. Much of the MMA community who commented on social media outlets such as Twitter felt the decisions went to the wrong fighters. During the post-fight press conference, White confirmed that he stepped in to remove a judge from his position for the night.

“Did you ask me sir, if it was true, that a judge was removed?” White said during the post fight press conference via Sherdog. “Yes, he was. He was involved in the first fight and the second fight. I told the guys to go let him grab some beer and some popcorn and go sit down and start watching some fights, not judging them.”

When the UFC travels to locales that do not have an athletic commission, they take the reins of regulating themselves in those situations. This means that they have the power to appoint judges to fights in these foreign events. Howard Hughes was the judge who was removed from his position by Dana White. According to MMA Decisions, a website that chronicles judging decisions in the sport, he provided two 29-28 scorecards in favor of Dudieva and Wee.

Hughes has frequently traveled with the UFC to judge foreign cards. This is the first time the UFC has acted in such a manner when it comes to managing the judges at their events.

MMA judging is one of the most controversial topics in the sport today. Still, the UFC did not condone White’s actions. In an official statement the organization admonished their president for his actions.

Pursuant to UFC’s protocol, neither White nor any other UFC executive possesses such authority. Nevertheless, protocol was breached and Hughes did not work further bouts on Saturday night…Both White and the UFC apologize to Mr. Hughes for calling his professional judgment into question. Hughes has judged more than 25 UFC fight cards and the UFC looks forward to him working on its events again in the future.

This is an effective statement from the promotion as a whole; however, true action has not been taken against White. There have not been any reports of official fines or sanctions being posed against one of the most well-known personalities in the sport. Dana should not expect to face such repercussions either, because he took a stance on one of the most controversial topics in the sport today.

Questionable judging has occurred multiple times within the sport and is now considered an expected occurrence at every event. White taking a stance against what he may have considered bad decision making might win him some new fans but still should not have happened.

Perception in combat sports is a reality that must be acknowledged. Bad decisions will often render complaints about fixed fights or other sinister actions within MMA. The fact that Dana White, who is a representative of the UFC, removed a judge because he delivered rulings that may not have been acceptable by the promotion creates a very questionable and slippery slope.

While it may not have been his intention, the perception may now be that the organization will remove judges who are unable to live up to their standards. With all the other issues posing the UFC at that time, this is a view that the organization cannot afford.

Yet that does not mean they will take action against one of the most important figures in the history of the sport.

Questionable judging will not leave the sport of mixed martial arts. Boxing has been a professional sport for centuries and to this day there are controversial decisions rendered at almost every event. Unfortunately for boxing, many fans question the validity of the results, and that same sentiment begins to creep into MMA.

Dana White’s actions were not meant to present this idea but the damage has been done. The UFC’s response was swift but could have been more forceful in a situation that can develop to be a real hindrance for the promotion.

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