Falls Count Anywhere

05/21/2009

Poppin' Fresh...

Bobby Lashley. He's something different. In many ways, he's going where Brock Lesnar has gone before, doing it with a bit less fanfare, but he's a star. He left the WWE in the middle of a big push and went off to get himself stardom in another field. There were a lot of circumstances that led to Bobby leaving, including the firing of his girlfriend and perhaps some issues with steroids and the like, but largely, it was an odd time for him to go since he was still working in a hot period.

While Brock tried football, Bobby went directly (more or less) to MMA. The guy's a former Amateur Wrestler and National Champion and was an Army wrestler and a big name. He was heavily recruited for MMA, but he took up the WWE's offer of training him to be a pro wrestler, which wasn't a bad idea because he had a very good look and showed promise. He came up and became a star, but then the business changed and his body was no longer the kind of thing they wanted to be showing off. That probably held him back a bit, but in the 1980s, he'd have been pushed from the word go.

Now, his leaving the WWE was a combination of problems, which is rough, and he ended up being released in February of last year. Them letting him go wasn't a completely unknown thing, but it was strange that they didn't even force a No Compete on him. At least that's how it seemed. What a lot of folks over-look is that he appeared with AAA in Mexico and did a lot of shows where he showed up and was a part of angles and the like, though he never wrestled.

By the middle of 2008, he was in full training. His trainers in San Jose said that he was the best student of the game they'd seen and that he was keeping himself up in the power thing. He really put himself into great shape and he fought in training harder than anyone.

Here's where Lesnar and Lashley have some differences. His first fight was against Josh Franklin and he won in 41 seconds. Brock's first fight was against a Korean fighter and it ended up that he beat Min Soo Kim in just over a minute in his first fight. Lashley's second fight was a decision win, but it wasn't that impressive a fight, though he controlled it. Brock's second fight was his loss to Frank Mir, though he looked unstoppable controlling the fight right up until the moment he got caught in the heel hook. It was the eye-opener that maybe Brock wasn't going to work out, though he did quickly change everyone's mind, especially with the fight against Randy Couture.

What stinks in here?

The latest Lashley fight was proof that he's the real deal. A 24 second submission via the Guilotine choke. The guy he was fighting, his name I've totally forgotten about, was a total chump. He had a bunch of fight, I think he even had a lot of fights where he ended up losing to a much weaker fighter. This was a total domination. Lashley looked like he threw a punch that the guy just ducked, but he ducked his head and that allowed Bobby to get the choke and end it fast. Big John McCarthy was the ref and he stopped it at exactly the right moment.

I have to say that the fight game will be building to the ultimate heavyweight fight of the decade: Lashley vs. Lesnar. Looking at the stats, right now, you'd be hard pressed to make the fight because Lashley's not been tested and at least Lesnar has beat Couture.

If Lashley beats Bob Sapp, UFC needs to immediately sign him, even if he's still working with TNA, because the Lesnar vs. Lashley fight will be worth more money and there's no way they should sit on it. They have to make it happen. It'd be worth even more money than the Fedor Emelianenko fight with Lesnar would be. It's money on top of money.

Still, if Lashley keeps improving, it could go either way. Lesnar is explosive, Lashley has worked very smart. It would be a battle, that's for sure, and even though Lesnar's much bigger, it's still been said that the better fighter can win, even without the advantage of size.

That's all for this week. More later!

Come see Chris Garcia and the rest of the Fanboy Planet crew live at BayCon this Memorial Day weekend!

Chris Garcia