The Inevitable Bobby Lashley Post

Get ready for a tidal wave of Bobby Lashley discussions, ranging from Brock Lesnar comparisons (also as inevitable as this post) to critiques of the former WWE superstar's still growing skill set.

Saturday night in Biloxi, Mississippi, Lashley headlined the Ultimate Chaos fight card and earned a first round submission win over former Pride and K-1 star Bob "The Beast" Sapp, improving his record to 4-0, not to mention my thoughts on his future in this sport.

Let's get the automatic Brock Lesnar comparison part out of the way up front.

In truth, there is no real comparison, as Kid Nate from Bloody Elbow accurate points out here. Outside of their time in the WWE, which was also quite different, they are actually quite different. Honestly, read Nate's piece; he covers it all.

But while I - like Kid Nate - give the edge to Lesnar in the physical specimen and collegiate pedigree categories, Lashley earns top marks from me for how he is approaching his transition into the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.

Not to take anything away from Brock Lesnar, his freakish athleticism and jet-propelled climb to the top of the UFC Heavyweight mountain, but to me, the way Lashley is going about his business earns much more respect in my books.

While I am certainly a fan of Lesnar's - as I declared here earlier in the week - his natural talents and abilities, combined with his immense following from the WWE gave him a greater opportunity than any fighter I can remember and he has made the most of it. He certainly has nothing to be ashamed of and the detractors can bitch about him all they want. I'm sure Brock Lesnar sleeps well at night.

That being said, seeing Bobby Lashley align himself with an outstanding camp at American Top Team and work his way up the ladder, taking the fights he is given and not simply looking to quickly cash in on his name recognition deserves praise.

It's shows a commitment to the sport and learning the craft as opposed to making money and using the natural talents he has been blessed with. He's like an anti-B.J. Penn, training his ass off and constantly looking to improve, instead of resting on his abilities and relying on being "The Prodigy." As great as Penn is now, he would reach the iconic status he feels he deserves if he just worked that much harder. Lashley looks like he is the opposite.

Chances are someone (read: Dana White, Tom Atencio, Scott Coker) have place a call or two to Bobby Lashley about taking the next step and moving to one of the larger organizations, but as of yet, that hasn't happened. In interviews, he acknowledges that he still has a great deal to learn and is interested in getting more fights under his belt before making the jump and that is why I'm confident that he will be a legitimate title contender by this time next year.

I was totally down on Lashley following his uneven performance against Jason Guida, as many were. Since that time, he wasted no time choking out Mike Cook up here in Edmonton and ran through the ridiculously large Sapp in just over three minutes last night. The improvement shows, as does the intelligence of abandoning the pre-fight hype declaration of looking to stand and trade with "The Beast" and utilizing his strength as a wrestler to take the fight to the floor and dominate.

Undoubtedly, a great deal of that gameplanning comes from ATT, who are either #1 or #1A as far as training teams go in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts depending on your feelings about Greg Jackson's squad in Albuquerque. Again, while he could certainly coast through these initial fights on the natural talents he possesses, training every day with a list of guys that includes Jeff Monson, Thiago Silva, Carmelo Marrero and Todd Duffee (just to name the guys around the same weight) is only going to help you improve and become a better fighter.

And that is what we're seeing in Bobby Lashley; the continued evolution and growth of a fairly household name as he transitions into the world of Mixed Martial Arts.

Here's to watching the evolution continue and Lashley continuing to go about things this same way.

The money and spotlight will always be there if you keep winning.

In the meantime, keep becoming a more complete fighter and earning victories and respect along the way.



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Oh Tom Atencio

Even the most novice MMA fan knows that the guy being choked is Dana White, head honcho and foul-mouthed leader of the UFC.

The guy doing the choking is Tom Atencio, founder and chief big shot with Affliction, the clothing company turned MMA promoter.

Goofy mugging for the camera aside, these two guys don't really like each other all that much.

In late June, Atencio will step into the ring and fight Randy Hedderick on the undercard of the Ultimate Chaos Pay-Per-View being headlined by former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley taking on Bob "The Beast" Sapp.

Since the fight announcement, Atencio has talked about stepping into the cage against White, someone he says often talks like a tough guy, but doesn't back it up through action, citing the hyped boxing exhibition between White and Tito Ortiz that never materialized as evidence.

Here's the thing, Tom:

The whole "prove how tough you are" angle stopped working in Elementary School and while your stepping into the ring also serves to promote your organization that enjoys six month breaks between shows, there is absolutely no benefit of doing such a thing for Dana White and the UFC.

They don't need the added promotion and coverage.

They don't have to remind everyone about their existence.

This isn't the Old West where if you sully the name of another man you meet in the street, count out ten paces and see who is the faster draw.

I'm pretty sure that Dana White sleeps real easy despite the fact that Tom Atencio more or less thinks he's all talk and no action.

While I commend Atencio for getting into the cage, it should be about wanting to test himself and his skills, not proving how tough he is or to "one-up" Dana White.

Instead of trying to goad the UFC President into a fight, why not focus on your training so that you don't get your ass handed to you six weeks from now?

Or, why not put a little time and effort into your promotion, novel ideas as that may be? You've got all those big money backers in Trump and De La Hoya, so why do we need to wait six months between shows?

The answer, of course, is that Affliction doesn't have anywhere near the support and interest that the UFC does and needs events like this fight to help promote the organization.

So Atencio will go on challenging Dana White, we'll go on covering most every word he says and in the end, nothing will come of it.

But if this fight ever were to happen, my money would be on Dana.

Good luck T-Shirt Guy...

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