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.
Loading comments...