Strikeforce Should Scrap The Lashley/Sims Fight
Earlier this week I wrote that Bobby Lashley need to fight stiffer competition. We were informed yesterday that Bobby Lashley would be doing the exact opposite when it was confirmed that he would be fighting Wes Sims on the Strikeforce: "Miami" card. Which just happens to be almost exactly one week away from the event. I think they should srap the entire fight. This could get long winded, so follow me after the jump for the realness.
1. Wes Sims was last seen on TUF 10 losing to Justin Wren. He was out of shape then and now he's getting this fight on one weeks notice. Has he even been training since the show?
2. Prior to the loss on the show to Justin Wren, Sims was on a three fight winning streak. Guess what the combined record of those three opponents was? 5 wins against 15 losses.
3. It was announced yesterday that Wes Sims will be fighting Tim Sylvia on March 20.
4. Skip this card, and let Lashley fight on the CBS card to expose him to a larger audience and give him the proper time to prepare for an opponent.
The fact of the matter is Bobby Lashley should not be fighting the Wes Sims of the world. Strikeforce knows how to build a fighter up properly. Just look at what they are doing with the talented welterweight Tyron Woodley. Why they seem to be having this problem with Lashley is beyond me. The fact that they are willing to give Sims to Lashley as an opponent, and the way this whole thing has gone down just just bush league to me. The fact Sims is taking this fight AND taking the fight against Sylvia less than two months later makes me wonder just how serious he'll take this fight. The guy basically said he was homeless before TUF 10, so who could fault him for trying to get paid? Futhermore, If you are supposed to be the #2 MMA organization in the world, why have you had problems finding opponents for two of your fighters on back to back cards?
This fight is a lose/lose fight for Lashley. He should destroy Sims, and if he has any problems putting him away it'll hurt his stock. Also, GOD forbid he were to lose. Odds are that he probably won't, but of course this is MMA and anything can happen.
Strikeforce should pull the plug on this fight. Lashley isn't that big of a draw yet, and this show in going to air on Showtime to a relatively small audience. So it wouldn't be that big of a loss. Actually, it would seem a lot more professional than booking Wes Sims on one weeks notice when they've known Lashley would be on this card for a while now. They should allow him to keep training to up his game, and find him a legitimate opponent to face on the CBS card in April. That show will be seens by millions and a good performance there could help Lashley as well as Strikeforce in a big way. Especially if they are serious about doing a PPV at some point or another, because GOD knows Fedor vs. random dude the casual fan doesn't know isn't going to break 100K buys.
So just scrap this fight, save yourself from wasting the money you'll have to pay Lashley to beat someone that will not impress anyone.
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18 comments
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Comments
Could you have picked a more awkward picture?
by Matt Bishop on Jan 23, 2010 2:28 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
yes
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by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 23, 2010 2:42 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Lashley probably need the money, if I had to guess.
by Matt Bishop on Jan 23, 2010 3:06 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Man
that joker making bank off TNA….
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by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 23, 2010 3:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I wish you would’ve given an example of the type of opponents you think Bobby Lashley should be fighting at this point.
I mean I’m sure you’ve seen at least one of his fights and aside from his wrestling what exactly have you seen that makes you think he shouldn’t be building himself up by fighting a guy like Wes Sims.
Keep in mind Lashley went the distance just a couple of fights ago with Jason Guida who’s not even a true heavyweight and after that he beat Bob Sapp who’s more interested in making commercials in Japan than competing in mixed martial arts.
by scrambledeggs on Jan 23, 2010 4:05 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Exactly.
They’re paying Lashley a ton of money, so they can’t take time to build him up. People talk about him like he’s a big deal, but at best he’s not that much better off than the amateurs on the show down the street. The difference is the money; you can’t take a year to build a guy up when you’re paying him $100k a fight, because when you finally get done building him up you’ll have invested way too much damn money, not to mention he’ll be that much closer to retirement.
Sims is a bad match, plain and simple, but it’s not THAT bad. What’s worse: losing to Wes Sims, former UFC fighter, or losing to Jimmy Ambriz? Who is a better fighter, Wes Sims or Jimmy Ambriz? I’ll even take it a step further, and ask who is a better fighter to build someone up, Wes Sims, Jimmy Ambriz, or the dude that Lashley was supposed to fight? I think the answer to all of these is Sims. He’s got some marginal credibility, in that he was a legit UFC fighter once upon a time, he was just on national TV a few months ago, and has a better record (22-12 vs 14-12). He’s a more well rounded fighter, has a boatload of experience (even if it’s experience losing), and if they’re lucky he’ll run his mouth and make the fight interesting.
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by -Neil- on Jan 23, 2010 4:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
the problem is this
Strikeforce appears to be very unorganized while doing last minute stuff…then asking a guy that’s probably not even training to take a fight on a weeks notice when that SAME guy is scheduled to take a fight less than 2 months out not to mention both fights were confirmed on the SAME day.
I wish you would’ve given an example of the type of opponents you think Bobby Lashley should be fighting at this point.
He can fight James Thompson for all I care….give him Mike Whitehead on the CBS card…
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by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 23, 2010 5:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
I agree at the last minute notice for the fight being ridiculous, but that’s not my point. I was only referring to the fact that at this point in Lashley’s career Wes Sims is a reasonable opponent. I wasn’t defending the last minute match making just the quality of the opponent for Lashley.
by scrambledeggs on Jan 23, 2010 5:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
sims would be a reasonable opponent if say he had 4-5 weeks notice to train as kelvin mentioned. it’s not easy to come up with the perfect opponent for lashley, that’s both going to challenge him and still give him a favorable chance to win. i still like the del-rosario/lasley match-up myself. i don’t think it would have hurt lashley if he lost to shane,who does have more expierence, as long as the fight was competitive. it would also help shane’s profile, who is probably going to be the better fighter of the 2 in the long run imo. as a matter of fact lashley would gain alot more credibility with the fans even in a competitve loss. and if by some chance he would have won, his marketability would have went through the roof. eventually SF will not have a choice but to take a chance give lashley a tough opponent for the amount of money i assume they are paying him. otherwise they may be wasting their chance.
another topic that has come up for SF is who moussasi and king mo should fight next. businesswise it makes more sense to have them fight other opponents then fight each other at a later date, but there may not be much of a later for SF if they continue down the same path they are traveling, so having them fight on the cbs card in may is probably the best time to go ahead with this fight.
i think SF needs to start taking more risks and chances very soon, instead of just playing it safe all the time. i believe alot of the zuffa’s success has alot to do with the gamble’s they have taken from day one. :)
by bdw on Jan 23, 2010 6:38 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Mousasi said in an interview on Sherdog radio today he’ll be fighting Mo Lawal in April.
by scrambledeggs on Jan 23, 2010 7:02 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
BDW
You just put a lot more thought into the Lashley fight then Strikeforce seems to have, I think.
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by -Neil- on Jan 24, 2010 3:13 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
True
But a James Thompson or a Mike Whitehead will probably both make him look like a fool, and those aren’t guys that they need to get over. A win over a scrub (ie Sims) makes him look at least marginally credible, and then Del Rosario can smash him and get the shine.
Strikeforce appears to be very unorganized while doing last minute stuff
This ain’t Japan y’all!
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by -Neil- on Jan 24, 2010 3:12 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Shit
Even if he put up a half decent fight against Whitehead….that would give him some credibility…more than a win over Sims in my eyes….
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by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 24, 2010 1:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
Maybe
But in reality all they’ve got going for this guy right now is his perfect record. Does anyone really care about the UD over Guida, or the wins over the other nobodies? If he took a loss to a Whitehead, he’ll go from being an undefeated prospect to that guy who got beat by the guy who got chumped by King Mo.
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by -Neil- on Jan 24, 2010 2:16 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
well
at that point…they’d know he ain’t even a prospect…therefore, they could save themselves the trouble of trying to pad his record and paying him money they could give to a real prospect…one that’s going to be a full time fighter….I don’t think he’ll ever be close to the draw that Lesnar is….no matter how many wins he gets….
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by Kelvin Hunt on Jan 24, 2010 2:21 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs
What Lashly is thinking there....
“Damn that stinks. I hope nobody else smells that.”
by Dr_Cox19 on Jan 23, 2010 5:03 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
Yeah, can’t believe motherfuckers be sanctioning this motherfucker.
"I don’t care, hit him with your groin!"
by 3PA on Jan 23, 2010 6:53 PM EST reply actions 0 recs
I don’t if all this should be put on Strikeforce. I think it’s Lashley and his camp insisting on taking “Pee Wee Herman” type of opponents. They had Del Rosario on the table but they balked when they learned more about him.
by The Bronzeville Bully on Jan 23, 2010 9:43 PM EST via mobile reply actions 0 recs

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