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…
The worlds of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts will collide on a major scale yet again when Bobby Lashley steps into the BellatorMMA 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 VitalyMinakov. 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.
On September 5th, Southeastern Connecticut is going to host way more top-notch MMA than it deserves, honestly. That’s the date of #FridayNightWars (hashtag patent-pending), the night when the UFC and Bellator put on simultaneous shows ten miles away from each other.
As we previously reported, UFC Fight Night 50 in Ledyard will feature a suspiciously-stacked lineup featuring Ronaldo Souza vs. Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem vs. Ben Rothwell, Matt Mitrione vs. Derrick Lewis, and Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Chiesa. But Bellator isn’t going down quietly. The promotion has announced three more bouts for its Bellator 123: Curran vs. Pitbull 2 card in Uncasville, and they all feature guys you’ve heard of…
Cheick Kongo vs. Lavar Johnson: Kongo bounced back to the win column with a second-round TKO of Eric Smith at Bellator 120 in May, and has put together a 3-1 record under the Bellator banner. He’ll face fellow UFC veteran Lavar “Big” Johnson, who has struggled to find his footing in Bellator, dropping to 1-2 in the promotion after his April submission loss against Blagoy Ivanov. Johnson has lost four of his last five fights overall.
(Disclaimer: Black guys not drawn to scale.)
On September 5th, Southeastern Connecticut is going to host way more top-notch MMA than it deserves, honestly. That’s the date of #FridayNightWars (hashtag patent-pending), the night when the UFC and Bellator put on simultaneous shows ten miles away from each other.
As we previously reported, UFC Fight Night 50 in Ledyard will feature a suspiciously-stacked lineup featuring Ronaldo Souza vs. Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem vs. Ben Rothwell, Matt Mitrione vs. Derrick Lewis, and Joe Lauzon vs. Michael Chiesa. But Bellator isn’t going down quietly. The promotion has announced three more bouts for its Bellator 123: Curran vs. Pitbull 2 card in Uncasville, and they all feature guys you’ve heard of…
Cheick Kongo vs. Lavar Johnson: Kongo bounced back to the win column with a second-round TKO of Eric Smith at Bellator 120 in May, and has put together a 3-1 record under the Bellator banner. He’ll face fellow UFC veteran Lavar “Big” Johnson, who has struggled to find his footing in Bellator, dropping to 1-2 in the promotion after his April submission loss against Blagoy Ivanov. Johnson has lost four of his last five fights overall.
Bobby Lashley vs. Josh Burns: The former WWE star quietly built up a three-fight win streak last year, and has been keeping busy in the wrestling world this year as the TNA World Heavyweight Champion. Now, he’ll look to reintroduce himself to MMA fans on a larger stage. Lashley will compete at Bellator 123 again Josh Burns, whose 8-7 record includes an 0-4 tally in Bellator (all losses by stoppage). Seems like Bellator is taking no chances here.
Our old friends Casey Oxendine and Cyrus Fees were at the Arnold Classic last weekend, giving a bunch of MMA stars their first look at Hip Show, the 2-on-2 Russian MMA league that we’ll be sponsoring for its AXS TV debut on March 14th. Aside from Bobby Lashley stating the obvious (“Man, somebody’s gonna die”), everybody was super-positive about it. Some notable quotes…
Mark Coleman: “I wish was 20 years younger, it seems I’d fit right in on what we got goin’ here.”
Don Frye: “Obviously the Russians have to invent something this fantastic. It’s a step in the right direction for men.”
Lyoto Machida: “I don’t know…it looks crazy, no? But I can try it, just for training maybe.”
Bobby Lashley: “Have you seen the movie Running Man? This is one step away from there.”
Urijah Faber: “That’s awesome. I can’t wait to watch it.” (Chad Mendes then suggests he and Urijah would “wreck shop” as a 145-pound Hip Show team.)
Ryan Bader: “That’s pretty crazy. I would watch it definitely…I think it would be pretty fun if you had a good partner. [I would choose] Weidman, we’d tag-team some guys over here.”
Shonie Carter: “I got some homies over in the hood off the West Side of Chicago that would love to do this…I’m doin’ this, son. I’m doin’ this. I’m just sayin’. That shit right here? That’s gonna be me.”
When Hip Show comes to the U.S., I’m putting my money on Shonie Carter & West Side Homie TBA. Tune in to AXS TV tonight at 9 p.m. to see Casey and Cyrus discuss Hip Show on Inside MMA, and be sure to watch the best-of special next Saturday, March 14th!
Our old friends Casey Oxendine and Cyrus Fees were at the Arnold Classic last weekend, giving a bunch of MMA stars their first look at Hip Show, the 2-on-2 Russian MMA league that we’ll be sponsoring for its AXS TV debut on March 14th. Aside from Bobby Lashley stating the obvious (“Man, somebody’s gonna die”), everybody was super-positive about it. Some notable quotes…
Mark Coleman: “I wish was 20 years younger, it seems I’d fit right in on what we got goin’ here.”
Don Frye: ”Obviously the Russians have to invent something this fantastic. It’s a step in the right direction for men.”
Lyoto Machida: “I don’t know…it looks crazy, no? But I can try it, just for training maybe.”
Bobby Lashley: ”Have you seen the movie Running Man? This is one step away from there.”
Urijah Faber: “That’s awesome. I can’t wait to watch it.” (Chad Mendes then suggests he and Urijah would “wreck shop” as a 145-pound Hip Show team.)
Ryan Bader: “That’s pretty crazy. I would watch it definitely…I think it would be pretty fun if you had a good partner. [I would choose] Weidman, we’d tag-team some guys over here.”
Shonie Carter: “I got some homies over in the hood off the West Side of Chicago that would love to do this…I’m doin’ this, son. I’m doin’ this. I’m just sayin’. That shit right here? That’s gonna be me.”
When Hip Show comes to the U.S., I’m putting my money on Shonie Carter & West Side Homie TBA. Tune in to AXS TV tonight at 9 p.m. to see Casey and Cyrus discuss Hip Show on Inside MMA, and be sure to watch the best-of special next Saturday, March 14th!
In May 2012, Lashley suffered the second loss of his career when he dropped a decision to James Thompson at Super Fight League 3; he was inactive for a year following that fight. But now, he’s rebuilding. Earlier this month, Lashley scored a second-round keylock victory over Kevin Asplund at Titan FC 25, and last night he returned to action against Matthew Larson at Global Warrior Challenge: British Invasion card in Kansas City, Missouri, winning by rear-naked choke in 98 seconds. Check out the video above.
The victory bumped Lashley’s MMA record to 9-2, and you can look at it one of two ways: 1) Lashley is still a powerful, dangerous s.o.b., particularly in the first round of a fight; or 2) Larson put up about as much resistance as a Bubba Dummy, and the sooner we forget this match the better.
In May 2012, Lashley suffered the second loss of his career when he dropped a decision to James Thompson at Super Fight League 3; he was inactive for a year following that fight. But now, he’s rebuilding. Earlier this month, Lashley scored a second-round keylock victory over Kevin Asplund at Titan FC 25, and last night he returned to action against Matthew Larson at Global Warrior Challenge: British Invasion card in Kansas City, Missouri, winning by rear-naked choke in 98 seconds. Check out the video above.
The victory bumped Lashley’s MMA record to 9-2, and you can look at it one of two ways: 1) Lashley is still a powerful, dangerous s.o.b., particularly in the first round of a fight; or 2) Larson put up about as much resistance as a Bubba Dummy, and the sooner we forget this match the better.
Bobby Lashley def. Matt Larson via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:38 of round one
Marcin Lazarz def. Ricco Rodriguez via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28 x 2)
Andre Winner def. Drew Fickett via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
Kendall Grove def. Danny Mitchell via TKO, 4:53 of round one
Oli Thompson def. Kevin Asplund via TKO, 3:21 of round one
L.C. Davis def. James Saville via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Dayman Lake def. Jake Heun via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:34 of round one
Jack Marshman def. Wayne Cole via TKO, 3:26 of round one
Max Nunes def. Justin Davis via TKO, 2:39 of round one
Michael Johnson def. Jerome Martinez via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Jake Murphy def. Tony Hervey via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)
(Thompson vs. Lashley. Come for the nut shots, stay for Phil Baroni’s childlike enthusiasm behind the mic. All praises be to IronForgesIron for the vids.)
You know, maybe it’s due to the fact that our expectations were so low, but other than a few hiccups along the way (one of which involved the most ridiculously over-the-top celebrations you will ever see), Super Fight League’s third event was actually a mildly entertaining affair. Who would’ve thought such a thing would be possible without the graceful presence of Bob Sapp? Although SFL’s production team still needs to get their shit together and stop cutting to random angles from halfway across the stadium, SFL 3 featured more than a fair share of exciting finishes, topped off by an at times groggy but overall solid main event clash between Bobby Lashley and James Thompson.
But before we get to the main event, lets talk about the very first fight of the night: a middleweight throwdown between Dream and Bellator veteran Zelg Galesic and former WEC light heavyweight champion Doug “The Rhino” Marshall, whose mere appearance on the card was enough to bring this “writer” back to the days of yore. Unfortunately for Marshall, the trip down memory lane was cut short by a beautiful flying knee that turned his lights off just 34 seconds into the fight. Nostalgia is a bitch, ain’t it?
That video, along with a video of the most insane post fight celebration in MMA history and more, awaits you after the jump.
(Thompson vs. Lashley. Come for the nut shots, stay for Phil Baroni‘s childlike enthusiasm behind the mic. All praises be to IronForgesIron for the vids.)
You know, maybe it’s due to the fact that our expectations were so low, but other than a few hiccups along the way (one of which involved the most ridiculously over-the-top celebrations you will ever see), Super Fight League’s third event was actually a mildly entertaining affair. Who would’ve thought such a thing would be possible without the graceful presence of Bob Sapp? Although SFL’s production team still needs to get their shit together and stop cutting to random angles from halfway across the stadium, SFL 3 featured more than a fair share of exciting finishes, topped off by an at times groggy but overall solid main event clash between Bobby Lashley and James Thompson.
But before we get to the main event, lets talk about the very first fight of the night: a middleweight throwdown between Dream and Bellator veteran Zelg Galesic and former WEC light heavyweight champion Doug “The Rhino” Marshall, whose mere appearance on the card was enough to bring this “writer” back to the days of yore. Unfortunately for Marshall, the trip down memory lane was cut short by a beautiful flying knee that turned his lights off just 34 seconds into the fight. Nostalgia is a bitch, ain’t it?
Galesic vs. Marshall
If one were to peruse over Trevor Prangley‘s Sherdog profile, they would more than likely file him under the category of “sacrificial lamb” when looking at his past few fights. After being brought in to test the effectiveness of Roger Gracie‘s ground game (as if there was anyone doubting it) at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg, the South African rounded out his 2011 season with a pair of brutal KO losses to Tatsuya Mizuno (via pants-shitting knee to the body) and Hector Lombard (via Hellstorm of unnecessary punches). Heading into the third round of his fight with Russian armbar specialist Baga Agaev, it looked as if Prangley would coast his way to his first victory since September of 2010. But the AKA product would not be content with a judges decision, and instead opted for a monster right hook that dropped Agaev like a sac of Kholodets. A few unnecessary follow up punches sealed the deal in what must have been a sigh of relief for Prangley, who improves to 24-9 with the victory. We’ve added a video of the third round below.
Now let’s get to the oddest moment of the night, which involved 11-8 Kultar “The Black Mamba” Gill and 1-3 Quinton Arendse. The fight itself, which can be seen here, lasted just under a minute and saw Gill stuff a takedown, secure a trip takedown of his own, and promptly pound his opponent’s head into dust. The fact that these men appeared to be in two entirely different weight classes may have had some determining factor in the fight itself, but it didn’t help that Gill had apparently ingested an entire bottle of Mickey Rooney’s Crazy Pills before stepping into the cage. When interviewed by Phil Baroni in the aftermath of the fight, Gill proceeded to take the mic, deliver a lengthy post-fight call to arms, smash said mic, sprint around the outside of the ring, and smash a camera he managed to pry away from a ringside cameraman. Hopefully the paltry $2,000 Knockout of the Night award he received will be enough to cover the damages, but probably not.
In the night’s main event, muscle-bound freakazoid and former/current(?) WWE superstar Bobby Lashley squared off against an unknown British prospect by the name of James Thompson. Perhaps you’ve heard of him on Twitter, Myspace, or some other form of these “social” networks, no? In either case, the first round started off in rather entertaining fashion, with Lashley unleashing some nice combinations and securing a couple takedowns to boot. A low knee by Thompson would temporarily halt the action with just under a minute to go, and Lashley would take full advantage of the allotted time. Whether or not he was truly recovering from the low blow or simply catching a breather is yet to be determined, but we’ll give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Baroni would not be so kind in the third frame when another low blow by Thompson caused yet another lengthy delay. “Suck it up,” Baroni remarked, which might have been a bit of strategic advice for Lashley’s testicles more than anything else.
The second and third rounds were fought primarily from the clinch, as Lashley’s hands began to drop lower and lower with each passing minute, an unfortunate side effect of combining Popeye’s muscles with Bluto’s gas tank. As Baroni and friends pointed out from ringside, it seemed that Lashley’s tendency to resort back to his wrestling roots, even when he had Thompson rocked, that could have cost him a TKO victory. But despite what we were being told about Thompson and Lashley’s “incredible” cardio, both men were clearly zonked by the third frame, resorting to clinch work and the occasional combination to round things out. Thompson’s octagon (or rather, circle) control and aggression seemed to be enough to warrant a victory in the judges eyes, earning him his first two-fight win streak since December of 2005. Lashley, on the other hand, falls to 7-2 as a professional.
Full results from SFL 3 are below:
James Thompson def. Bobby Lashley by Unanimous Decision (29-28,29-28,29-28)
Joanne Calderwood def. Lena Ovchynnikova by Unanimous Decision (30-26,30-26,30-26)
Anup Kumar def. Chatmongkhon Simma by TKO (punches) at 4:55 of Round 1
Kultar Gill def. Quinton Arendse by KO (punches) at :51 of Round 1
Trevor Prangley defeats Baga Agaev by TKO (punches) at 2:03 of Round 3
Lakwinder Sekhon def. Vladimir Biandov by TKO at 5:00 of Round 2
Gurdarshan Mangat def. Si Cong Liu by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:37 of Round 2 Zelg Galesic def. Doug Marshall by KO (flying knee) at :34 of Round 1
(As with the Mona Lisa’s eyes, Thompson’s ear seems to just follow you around the room, doesn’t it?)
Indian upstart promotion Super Fight League recently announced the pairing of James Thompson and former WWE star Bobby Lashley as the main event of its third card, which will also feature Trevor Prangley, Doug Marshall, and Zelg Galesic in action.
This is the point where we stop discussing the matchups at hand and get to the news you really need to know: Super Fight League is crashing and burning like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Josh Barnett couldn’t melt a plastic cup with his urine fast enough to destroy SFL, which is beginning to look like it will be but a distant memory by the end of the fiscal year. Despite the fact that viewership is free to anyone with a computer, internet access, and the ability to spell Youtube, SFL already seems to be on wobblier legs than River Phoenix outside The Viper Room (too soon?).
And it’s pretty clear why.
Heading into their first event, the India-based promotion showcased an emphasis on flare, throwing fancy promos and even their own theme song into the mix in an effort to spur interest in a sport that their country had yet to build the smallest of followings for. This was their first problem, a lack of awareness. Where Asian-based promotion OneFC has thrived thanks to both collaborative efforts with local promotions and a strong, preexisting fan base in the area they chose to promote within, Super Fight League’s co-chairmen, Raj Kundra and Sanjay Dutt, opted to rely on a combination of Bollywood celebrities and music industry execs to help promote a new sport that they themselves weren’t truly familiar with. In fact, many of the celebrities in attendance, and most of the 300,000 India-based Youtube viewers who managed to make the first card a slight success, where under the impression that MMA, and specifically SFL, consisted of over-the-top, WWE style antics and entertainment, largely due to how the promotion chose to well…promote themselves.
(As with the Mona Lisa’s eyes, Thompson’s ear seems to just follow you around the room, doesn’t it?)
Indian upstart promotion Super Fight League recently announced the pairing of James Thompson and former WWE star Bobby Lashley as the main event of its third card, which will also feature Trevor Prangley, Doug Marshall, and Zelg Galesic in action.
This is the point where we stop discussing the matchups at hand and get to the news you really need to know: Super Fight League is crashing and burning like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Josh Barnett couldn’t melt a plastic cup with his urine fast enough to destroy SFL, which is beginning to look like it will be but a distant memory by the end of the fiscal year. Despite the fact that viewership is free to anyone with a computer, internet access, and the ability to spell Youtube, SFL already seems to be on wobblier legs than River Phoenix outside The Viper Room (too soon?).
And it’s pretty clear why.
Heading into their first event, the India-based promotion showcased an emphasis on flare, throwing fancy promos and even their own theme song into the mix in an effort to spur interest in a sport that their country had yet to build the smallest of followings for. This was their first problem, a lack of awareness. Where Asian-based promotion OneFC has thrived thanks to both collaborative efforts with local promotions and a strong, preexisting fan base in the area they chose to promote within, Super Fight League’s co-chairmen, Raj Kundra and Sanjay Dutt, opted to rely on a combination of Bollywood celebrities and music industry execs to help promote a new sport that they themselves weren’t truly familiar with. In fact, many of the celebrities in attendance, and most of the 300,000 India-based Youtube viewers who managed to make the first card a slight success, where under the impression that MMA, and specifically SFL, consisted of over-the-top, WWE style antics and entertainment, largely due to how the promotion chose to well…promote themselves.
When treated to MMA on full display, many of those same celebrities have since declared that MMA should be banned in India, and you can’t blame them for being mislead by the bright lights and poor marketing. Take a look at SFL’s venue choices, for instance. The promotion’s first event was held at the Adheri Sports Complex in Mumbai, a massive indoor complex capable of holding up to 20,000 people. The costs to rent such a venue doesn’t offer a lot of wiggle room, financially speaking, especially for an upstart promotion in every sense of the word. But they sure do look cool, don’t they? According to Indian sources, SFL 1 only managed to pull in around 300 paying customers. Add to that the cost of the fighter’s salaries, and there is no way it didn’t end up in the red. But perhaps the most obvious argument that Super Fight League was truly a promotion favoring style over substance was the inclusion of Bob Sapp in it’s very first main event.
OneFC made the same mistake once, but you can be damn sure they won’t do it again. Sapp is a walking publicity stunt, a carnival act, and the easiest way to show the world that you haven’t the slightest clue what the sport you claim to be promoting is actually about, let alone who is watching it. To a lesser extent, the same can be said about Thompson. Though it is a given that a promotion can only acquire so many great fighters with their limited budgets, the money SFL spent on the aforementioned flash and flare could have easily been used to pull in guys like Hector Lombard, Mamed Khalidov, the recently UFC-released Jorge Santiago and other lesser known, but much more respected, mixed martial artists. The simple matter is, fans were outraged and angered by the obvious work that was Sapp/Thompson, and it showed with the second event’s complete failure to pull in viewers.
Just take a look at the fight videos of SFL 2. Sure, you will notice that the card is actually an improvement over its predecessor in terms of production and matchmaking, but you will also notice that there was no one in attendance. Reports have had claimed the number of attendees to be around 1/5th of the T-Box Mobile Arena’s 5000 seat capacity. Think that’s bad? It gets worse. Despite signing an exclusive deal with Youtube, SFL 2 only managed to scrounge up an abysmal 3,000 views. That’s a ninety-nine percent drop from their first event, folks. And who do they decide to let headline their third event? A couple more freak show fighters that are almost universally reviled by MMA fans. One can expect those paltry numbers to drop even further with marketing tactics like these.
At the end of the day, we could be wrong about the direction SFL heads, which we predict will be rapidly downward in a spiraling motion. In either case, it appears that SFL seems to be having the same problems that EliteXC had, forgoing an actual investment in the sport in favor of overblown production values, laughably commentary, and a lack of thrilling, or even remotely exciting matchups. And let’s not even get into the ridiculous size of that ring, which looks like they threw a tarp over a motocross track and said, “Fuck it.”
The way we see it, SFL has two options; continue doing what they’re doing and be left penniless, or start focusing on what really makes a MMA promotion, and the sport itself, successful. To quote August Burns Red:
Lucky for you rock bottom is in sight, Your wake up call is set for now, And the trail you have followed has come all the way to the end, I hope you survive the crash
