Lashley trades wrestling for shot at MMA glory
By DAN GELSTON | AP Sports Writer
Bobby Lashley has shaved Vince McMahon bald and speared a guy named Samoa Joe.
He can surely entertain in mixed martial arts.
With his debut for Bellator looming, Lashley wants to show he’s just as dominant when the competition is for real inside an MMA cage.
Lashley has been a professional wrestling fixture for most of the last decade. He has mixed it up with McMahon at WrestleMania and currently stands tall as the TNA Wrestling heavyweight champion.
But that’s sports entertainment. Lashley, 6-foot-2, 265 pounds, is up for sport and he turned to Bellator to get his fix. Lashley fights Josh Burns in a heavyweight feature bout at Bellator 123 on Friday.
Lashley is no Brock Lesnar, another wrestler-turned-fighter. But he just might be the first fighter to win televised fights in two different promotions in the same week.
“TNA has been really good with me and they really understand the importance of me fighting,” Lashley said. “It’s been a smooth transition.”
Bellator featherweight champion Pat Curran defends against Brazilian striker Patricio Pitbull in the main event of the Spike TV card held at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Casino, just a few miles down the road from UFC’s competing Fight Night 50 card at Foxwoods Resort Casino on Fox Sports 1.
Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and Cheick Kongo also have a spot on perhaps Bellator’s biggest card of the year.
It also goes kick-to-kick against UFC in a primetime showdown between the MMA promotions.
“I don’t know if we’re competing with the UFC,” Lawal said. “I think we should just compete with ourselves, just build and do things that can make the organization grow. We’re just trying to fight for respect. We want to be respected and it’s going to happen.”
TNA and Bellator have maintained a loose affiliation through their TV deal with Spike TV and Lashley, Lawal, Jackson, and Tito Ortiz have all fought — for real and for entertainment — in some fashion for both organizations.
“I’m focused on fighting right now. But if I have time to wrestle, I will,” Lawal said. “Pro wrestling is easier on the body, man. Pro wrestling is more fun.”
Lashley won his title match against Samoa Joe on a taped “Impact Wrestling” on Wednesday night. He also has a 10-2 mixed martial arts record fighting in smaller promotions.
“I will do everything I can to make sure I’m successful in my title run,” Lashley said.
Lashley starred in WWE for a time and was involved in a “Battle of the Billionaires” match at WrestleMania in 2007, representing Donald Trump in a match that resulted in McMahon being shaved bald. His lone regret? Not saving some of McMahon’s hair as a souvenir.
“I could have put it on eBay,” he said.
