Tag: Chad Griggs

Bobby Lashley Says Griggs Fight Would Have Been ‘Quick Win’ If Not for Health

Filed under: StrikeforceFormer pro wrestling superstar Bobby Lashley may have had a career setback in his loss to Chad Griggs in Strikeforce last month, but his MMA career is nowhere near done, he said.

“I’m fighting again [in 2010] for sure…in Nove…

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Former pro wrestling superstar Bobby Lashley may have had a career setback in his loss to Chad Griggs in Strikeforce last month, but his MMA career is nowhere near done, he said.

“I’m fighting again [in 2010] for sure…in November at the latest,” Lashley told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s episode of “The MMA Hour.”

As for who he’d like to face in his return to action, Lashley indicated that he wants a rematch with Griggs, who beat him via referee stoppage at the end of the second round in Houston, Texas on August 21. Lashley said he’s already asked Strikeforce for the fight, and explained that due to several health issues going into the fight he wasn’t able to perform at his best.

“I already asked for a rematch, because when you have certain events like I did that sort of hindered me from being able to open up and fight, I’ve got to go back,” Lashley said. “I’d hate for them to use that fight to boost somebody’s career, saying, ‘Okay, he beat Bobby,’ because that wasn’t really the case. If I didn’t have these problems, and I’d been able to go out there and fight, I think it would have been a pretty quick win for me. But I just didn’t have anything in me.”

How Do We Fix MMA’s Officiating Issues? Training and Accountability

There’s no getting around it, MMA has some problems when it comes to officiating. I’m not just talking about suspect decisions. I’m talking about baffling interpretations of the rules inside the cage, including but not limited to bizarre stand-ups like…

There’s no getting around it, MMA has some problems when it comes to officiating. I’m not just talking about suspect decisions. I’m talking about baffling interpretations of the rules inside the cage, including but not limited to bizarre stand-ups like the one that may or may not have cost former WWE star Bobby Lashley a win against Chad Griggs at Strikeforce: Houston last weekend.

In case you somehow missed it, referee Jon Schorle (who has a bit of a history of flubbing calls) opted to stand Lashley up out of the full mount in the second round. At first it seemed as though he was doing so to check the cut under Lashley’s eye, but MMA Fighting has confirmed that Schorle actually brought the fighters to the feet because he felt Lashley wasn’t active enough from the top position.

I’ll pause a moment so you can take that in. Lashley had achieved full mount, one of the most dominant positions you can have, but he lost it when the referee decided that his occasional bursts of offense weren’t enough to allow him to maintain the position he had earned.

Should that ever happen in an MMA fight? Absolutely not, according to the sport’s most experienced referee, “Big” John McCarthy.

Falling Action: Best, Worst of Strikeforce: Houston

Filed under: StrikeforceYou can learn a lot about what a fighter is made of by the way he loses. Take “King” Mo Lawal and Bobby Lashley, for instance. Both suffered TKO losses at Strikeforce: Houston, but both showed us something completely different a…

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You can learn a lot about what a fighter is made of by the way he loses. Take “King” Mo Lawal and Bobby Lashley, for instance. Both suffered TKO losses at Strikeforce: Houston, but both showed us something completely different about their respective characters in the process.

Lawal absorbed some brutal knees and punches from a heavy-hitting Brazilian, and he was still scrambling for a desperate takedown right up until the end. When “Big” John McCarthy finally stopped the fight, Lawal pitched face first onto the mat, completely spent after trying everything he could to claw his way back from the brink of unconsciousness.

Lashley, on the other hand, looked like he didn’t even want to get up and walk to his corner after winning the first round. The cut under his eye clearly rattled him, and a few minutes later he was so exhausted he could barely lift his arms or defend himself.

The MMA Wrap-Up Looks Back at Strikeforce: Houston

Filed under: Strikeforce, VideosSome nights the hardest thing is finding an interesting topic to talk about once the fights are over. Other nights the only problem is narrowing it down to just one interesting topic.

As you’ll see in the video below, t…

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Some nights the hardest thing is finding an interesting topic to talk about once the fights are over. Other nights the only problem is narrowing it down to just one interesting topic.

As you’ll see in the video below, the Wrap-Up struggled with this very problem after a crazy night at Strikeforce: Houston. After a little internal debate, we turn our attention toward former pro wrestler Bobby Lashley, who began like a hurricane on Saturday night only to turn into a tepid breeze within about ten minutes of action against Chad Griggs.

So what does this mean for Lashley’s MMA career, and for Strikeforce’s attempts to trade on his pro wrestling star power by putting him into bouts where he’s an almost excruciatingly heavy favorite each time out? To find out, you’ll just have to watch the video.

Strikeforce: Houston Results in a Night of Upsets and Controversy

Filed under: StrikeforceOn paper, Strikeforce: Houston looked like it would be a night where a series of favorites stampeded to easy victories. Then again, they don’t fight on paper.

“King” Mo Lawal got off to a good start in his first Strikeforce lig…

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On paper, Strikeforce: Houston looked like it would be a night where a series of favorites stampeded to easy victories. Then again, they don’t fight on paper.

“King” Mo Lawal got off to a good start in his first Strikeforce light heavyweight title defense. He slammed Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante to the mat, deftly avoided most of his offensive assaults, and seemed like he was in complete control.

Then in the third round the Brazilian challenger found his range in the stand-up game and unloaded on Lawal with hard right hands and a series of knees to the head that left the champion wobbled. After dropping Lawal with a left-right combination, Cavalcante poured on the elbow strikes until referee “Big” John McCarthy called a stop to the bout at 1:14 of round three, making “Feijao” the third man to hold the Strikeforce light heavyweight strap in 2010.

“My strategy was to block his takedowns in the first and second rounds, because I knew he was going to get tired, and that’s what I did,” Cavalcante said in the post-fight press conference.

Bobby Lashley Faced His First Real Test, and Tasted His First MMA Failure

Filed under: StrikeforceHOUSTON – Former pro wrestler Bobby Lashley came into his bout with Chad Griggs at Strikeforce: Houston as an overwhelming 8-1 favorite. A little more than ten minutes later, he staggered out of the cage beaten, bloodied, and wi…

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HOUSTON – Former pro wrestler Bobby Lashley came into his bout with Chad Griggs at Strikeforce: Houston as an overwhelming 8-1 favorite. A little more than ten minutes later, he staggered out of the cage beaten, bloodied, and with his hype bubble officially burst.

It was a fight that was supposed to be a showcase for Lashley, but somewhere in there in turned into an actual test. It was the first real challenge that Lashley has faced in his relatively short and sheltered MMA career. Instead of rising to the occasion, he wilted under the pressure.