It's Time For Bobby Lashley To Fight Stiffer Competition
by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 19, 2010 2:00 PM EST
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We as fans can learn a great deal about young fighters when they participate in meaningful fights as they progress in their career. We are less than two weeks out from the Strikeforce: "Miami" card and Bobby Lashley(4-0) has yet to have an opponent finalized. He was once rumored to face Shane Del Rosario(9-0), and the latest news is that he could face Jimmy Ambriz(14-12). I can understand Strikeforce deciding against Lashley/Rosario because that eliminates one of your up and comer's so to speak in a relatively thin division.
I do realize that Lashley is no Brock Lesnar or Cain Velasquez. However, I'll use Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez, and Shane Carwin for comparison since they all have ties with wrestling at a high level in college.
-After having a gimmie fight against Min-Soo Kim, Lesnar took on Frank Mir and loss inside of two minutes. In his very next fight, he took on a veteran of some 40 professional MMA fights in Heath Herring. We learned more about what Lesnar could and couldn't do in that unanimous decision win than we did in the first two fights against Kim and Mir.
-Cain Velasquez burst into the UFC after just 2 fights and then took on Jake O'Brien in his fourth fight overall. O'Brien wasn't a world beater but he did have a couple of wins over credible opponents. Velasquez then went on to face veterans Cheick Kongo and Ben Rothewell, winning both of those fights. Now he'll be facing MMA legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110 in the main event.
-Shane Carwin is probably the most similar to Bobby Lashley due to cage experience and age. Carwin's never been out of the first round in any of his fights, and the UFC decided to match him up with former top ten HW Gabriel Gonzaga in his 11th fight. It's a fight that Carwin could have very well lost, but we could have potentially learned a lot more about him since he faced a credible opponent. He got Gonzaga out of there in the first round as well, which proved that he's capable of beating quality opposition.
As you can see all three of these guys came in and fought relatively credible opposition shortly after making their MMA debuts. It's common knowledge that collegiate wrestling at a high level transitions to success in MMA more times that not. Granted, it was a long time ago for Lashley, but you don't forget those techniques overnight when you've done them your whole life.
The fact of the matter is Bobby Lashley is no spring chicken as he'll be 34 years old in July. Couple his age with all of the wear and tear he has taken on the WWE circuit, as well as his college wrestling days, and that's quite a bit of mileage. Will he be worth the salary that Strikeforce will pay him to fight guys that will not force him to elevate his game? At some point, they are going to have to take a risk with him losing against a credible opponent. Why not take the risk now and get an accurate gauge of where his overall skillset is instead of giving him fights he should win fairly easily? Instead of spending all that money promoting him to fight guys with no real benefits if he wins? If he loses badly then it gives Strikeforce some direction in knowing exactly what he brings to the table. If he does wind up fighting and defeating Jimmy Ambriz, what does that accomplish?
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I wouldn’t even be mad at that fight….Sylvia…though he’s fallen off…is a legit opponent…
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Im not really into watching this guy fight
and as long as he stays unimpressive and keeps fighting cans I will continue to not be.
@fjbar on twitter...formerly El Mexicutioner
Granted a fighter should ideally fight opponents according to some kind of natural learning curve, but as a promoter you can’t protect a popular older dude for too long hoping that they’ll be a major draw because you’ll eventually get EliteXC’d if the dude isn’t legit and is outclassed on a big stage.
From what I’ve seen of Lashley I actually think he could bring da ruckus and like you said, because of his age they need to accelerate the sternness of his tests a little quicker than with a 22 Y.O. prospect.
"I don’t care, hit him with your groin!"
Evertone is just upset cause this guy is fighting on main cards. If he was on the undercard no so many people would be upset. Dude has only been training for like a year. And he has been juggling MMA with wrestling. Just let this guy get some in cage experince and soon he will be ready for some deent fighters.
*
decent. (Wish we had the edit post feature)
by Erich Vowell on Jan 19, 2010 2:38 PM EST up reply actions
Nah
My problem isn’t that he’s fighting on the main card….it’s that he isn’t following that natural ladder of better opposition IMO…
With his background….it shouldn’t take as long to progress…
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It is just 4 fights and as far as I know he has no ametuer background. He’s fine. Once he has 6 fights under his belt, I would like to see him get tested by legit opponetts
by Erich Vowell on Jan 19, 2010 3:13 PM EST up reply actions
But
see the thing is…he’ll be 34 by then…and SF will have had to pay him twice(whatever they are paying him) to fight relative nobodies….so say he takes those two fights….beats them within 2-3 minutes? Then fights someone like Mike Whitehead and takes a L(not saying he would lose to Whitehead)…it would be all for not at that point…and Mike Whitehead and even that good…lol.
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Will he be worth the salary that Strikeforce will pay him to fight guys that will not force him to elevate his game?
Maybe, maybe not; it depends on whether or not Strikeforce is getting people to watch because of him. Walker probably isn’t going to go on a tear and rule the world, but they signed him too. Let’s be real here: they’re not signing them to be contenders, they’re signing them because they’ve got name value that people will pay attention to them.
At some point, they are going to have to take a risk with him losing against a credible opponent. Why not take the risk now and get an accurate gauge of where his overall skillset is instead of giving him fights he should win fairly easily? Instead of spending all that money promoting him to fight guys with no real benefits if he wins? If he loses badly then it gives Strikeforce some direction in knowing exactly what he brings to the table. If he does wind up fighting and defeating Jimmy Ambriz, what does that accomplish?
The problem here is that while guys like Lesnar and Velasquez DID get big fights very early (Lesnar even getting a title shot at three fights blows my mind), but they were utterly dominating in those wins. What has Lashley done? He got a doctor stopage (cut) over a guy who is still 0-1, he got a guillitine on a guy who shot in for a takedown, and subbed Sapp (big deal). Oh, let’s also not forget going to a mind-numbing decision over the perenially awful Jason Guida.
The problem with Lashley is that he’s got a big name, but he doesn’t have a big game. Maybe he’ll be somebody in a year or two, but his training doesn’t appear (from reports) to be very serious, and he hasn’t shown anything in the cage besides a good wrestling pedigree. Maybe it will change, and I’ll be wrong, but at this point I would rather get a heavyweight prospect from the midwest then Lashley, name value aside.
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The problem with Lashley is that he’s got a big name, but he doesn’t have a big game. Maybe he’ll be somebody in a year or two, but his training doesn’t appear (from reports) to be very serious, and he hasn’t shown anything in the cage besides a good wrestling pedigree. Maybe it will change, and I’ll be wrong, but at this point I would rather get a heavyweight prospect from the midwest then Lashley, name value aside.
Which is why I’m saying….put him in there with someone legit and let the chips fall where they may…least you know what you have at that point…
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No doubt
But if they expose him for what he is now, he loses the “it” factor. Him fighting a few nobodies gives people the impression that he’s a someone, and THEN he fights a real up and comer like Shane Del Rosario. That dude probably whups him, and then they’ve gotten the most out of him; people tuned in to see him fight nobodies (building the audience), and a real fighter gets a rub. He’s got some milleage to him in this scenario, and even if it isn’t pushing Lashley to his limits, they can get the most out of what I’m sure is a big salary.
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But people who watch Strikeforce are hardecore fans. Hardcore’s see right through what Strikeforces is doing. So why not test him agaisnt local prostpects or vets? Like they did with Shane Del Rosario putting him agaisnt Brandon Cash.
by Erich Vowell on Jan 19, 2010 5:09 PM EST up reply actions
I’d say that most of Strikeforce’s viewship ARE hardcores, but bringing in a guy like Lashley is what will bring in people who don’t watch it already. Wrestlemania 23 had ~1.2 million viewers, and had Bobby Lashley as a headliner. Those are the people (in addition to the other casual WWE fans) that Strikeforce wants to get. Get ‘em in the door with Lashley on the banner, then he loses to some dude, and now they’re looking at that dude like a somebody because they beat up a bad ass in Lashley.
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Does Lashley lose fights in the WWE? And have you checked out Showtime’s marketing of Strikeforce? I don’t think Showtime puches Strikeforce enough on their paltform. Plus how many WWE fans have Showtime? I could see a CBS audince buying into a one-sided Lashley fight, but not on Showtime.
by Erich Vowell on Jan 19, 2010 5:59 PM EST up reply actions
I don’t remember a ton about Lashley in WWE, but the guy being on the poster for a Wrestlemania says a lot.
I’m sure quite a few WWE fans have Showtime. It’s not CBS numbers, but according to an article about a year ago they had 16.5 million subscribers.
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What! 16.5 Mill?
And they only draw 341000 viewers for their last event! Wow. Just Wow
by Erich Vowell on Jan 19, 2010 6:37 PM EST up reply actions
That's January '09
But yeah. Plenty of room to grow!
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Ehh
those numbers didn’t help HDNet when he fought for MFC….and with the way that Strikeforce is going about this card…not many are going to tune in for this one…unless people tune in to see Walker fight…I get the overall impression from casual fans that they KNOW Lashley isn’t a Lesnar in MMA already though…
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Maybe
But it’s important to remember how few people actually get HDNET, not to mention that there wasn’t any real advertising/press for the MFC event outside of HDNET.
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and
they hasn’t been any real advertisment for this Strikeforce jawn….lol
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Yeah, but a commercial between some Showtime programming means a whole lot more than a logo with a Kenny Rice voiceover between Art Mann and Bikini Destinations ;)
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HA!
True…SF is bout bad as the Japanese promotions about finalizing their fight card though…shit is pathetic.
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by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 19, 2010 10:25 PM EST up reply actions
Bobby Lashley
Bobby Lashley will be Champion and ranked #1 HW in the world before he stops MMA. I went to college with Big Bob and he is a beast when it comes to any sport from spades to dunking a basketball or MMA! All you people that think I am crazy just sit back and enjoy the show…
http://www.bobbylashleynutrition.com/affiliates/id/4
http://utjm115.mydealsplace.com/contact_us/
http://www.advocare.com/08102051
Jaston
First of all…welcome to the site and thanks for joining….I don’t believe you…but if you have any contact with Lashley still…I’d love to have the opportunity to speak with him about his training camps and just how he intends to become the #1 HW in the world…my email address can be found on the right sidebar under ‘contact us’..or send me a message on FB.
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