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A great story on Bobby Lashley's MMA debut can be found in the South
Florida Sun-Sentinel HERE
The former WWE-version-of-ECW World Champion is very focused on climbing to
the top of the MMA
ladder and one day meeting Brock Lesnar. You can read all about Lashley and
Lesnar comparisons from
a man who knows both very well, former ECW Owner and WWE creative team
member Paul Heyman
The Sun-Sentinel story, written by Sharon Robb, states the following:
Bobby Lashley sees the look on people's faces when he tells
them he wants to win mixed martial arts titles.
The strapping hulk of a
man can hear it in their voices when he is mentioned in the same sentence as
World Wrestling Entertainment and Kimbo Slice.
"Those are the people who
don't know me, what I'm about or where I come from," said Lashley between
two-a-day workouts at American Top Team.
At 32, Lashley is preparing to
make his heavyweight pro debut Saturday night on the Mixed Fighting Alliance
"There Will Be Blood" card at AmericanAirlines Arena. He will fight Joshua
Franklin, a 30-year-old fighter also making his pro debut.
The former WWE
fan favorite is part of a growing trend of wrestlers who hope to make it as
professional fighters, including UFC champion Brock Lesnar, who recently knocked
off legend Randy Couture.
"It wasn't only about the money in the WWE, I
enjoyed the crowds," Lashley said. "I was in WrestleMania representing Donald
Trump [in 2007] in front of 85,000 people [at Ford Field in Detroit]. It was
crazy.
"I know what people are saying. I think I lost some of my
credibility as a fighter, wrestler and competitor being in the WWE. I know I
have a lot to lose."
Lashley knows what he's up against in the mixed
martial arts world. Every day he looks around on the mats, the cage and boxing
ring at ATT and sees some of the world's best fighters well-versed in wrestling,
submissions and striking.
However, since the UFC began 15 years ago,
athletes with strong wrestling backgrounds have been successful. In the 1990s
top amateur wrestlers Mark Coleman, Don Frye, Kevin Randleman, Dan Severn and
Couture have all fought their way to the top for titles in the UFC, where top
stars now command millions for fights and endorsement deals.
What the
skeptics don't know about Lashley is that before the WWE he was an accomplished
wrestler for 18 years with Olympic aspirations. He chose the WWE "because I
needed the money at the time and didn't know if the opportunity would ever
present itself again."
Born in Junction City, Kan., the four-time
All-American won three national wrestling titles (1996-98) for Missouri Valley
College. He then joined the Army, where he continued to wrestle, and won a
silver medal at the World Games, which set him up as an Olympic
hopeful.
In 2003, Lashley was still wrestling and trying to make a
transition into mixed martial arts when he was injured during a bank robbery in
Colorado Springs, Colo., where he lived and hoped to train for the 2004 Olympic
trials.
"I was going to the bank to put some money in and it got robbed,"
Lashley said. "During the robbery I took a dive from a bullet that was shot at
the back of my head. I busted my knee wide open and it ended my amateur
wrestling career. It turned out to be my calling at the time."
While
rehabbing after a second surgery, the WWE came knocking "because I was big and
they liked my look [6 feet 3 and 255 pounds of muscle] and athletic ability." He
signed with the WWE in November 2003 and moved into "pro wrestling and
entertainment." He was released on good terms in January.
"The WWE signed
me right away and it kept me in great shape for mixed martial arts, which was
always in the back of my mind," Lashley said. "I knew I would always have an
opportunity to come back and compete someday, even though people discredit what
I did before the WWE."
Along with opportunity came sacrifices. He moved
to South Florida to train and build a new resume. His children, Kyra, 4, and
4-month-old son Myles live in Parker, Colo., where he visited for Thanksgiving
before resuming training.
"That's the tough part, but it's what I have to
do to get to that next step, " Lashley said. "I am going to prove myself. I want
to show people what I can do. This is where I want to be right now, without a
doubt."
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