Ken Shamrock to fight former WWE star Bobby Lashley

Hmmmm.

Former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley’s opponent for “March Badness” — a hybrid mixed martial arts and boxing event being put on by former boxing champion Roy Jones Jr. — will be none other than UFC Hall-of-Famer Ken Shamrock (27-13-2), according to BloodyElbow.com.

The pay-per-view (PPV) event will take place at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Fla., on March 21.

Lashley is an absolute monster, weighing in right around the 265-pound heavyweight limit for his fights. He destroyed Joshua Franklin in under a minute during his MMA debut last December with devastating takedowns and a ground-and-pound that opened up a nasty fight ending gash on Franklin’s head.

One of the newest members of the prestigious American Top Team, Lashley has a rare blend of size, freakish athleticism and blazing quickness. He’s going to be a handful for anybody in a fight, let alone a 45-year-old man who’s lost 8 of his last 11 contests and hasn’t beaten a decent heavyweight since submitting Bas Rutten nearly 14 years ago.

“The World’s Most Dangerous Man” managed to win his most recent fight a couple of weeks ago over Ross Clifton at WarGods: “The Valentine’s Eve Massacre;” however Ross Clifton isn’t exactly comparable to a Goliath like Bobby Lashley.

The truth is, this is probably a more difficult match-up for Shamrock than even Kimbo Slice was when they were scheduled to lock horns last October, simply because of Lashley’s versatility as a decorated amateur wrestler and his overall explosiveness.

Shamrock pulled out of that scheduled match with Slice on fight night due to a cut sustained in warm-ups, and has since been accused by younger brother Frank of cutting himself to get out of the fight.

Regardless of whether or not that’s true, the fact is that Shamrock hasn’t seen action inside a cage or ring against a guy as big and as dangerous as Lashley in a long time. This one could get ugly.

Also expected to be in action is the man who put an end to the Kimbo Slice hype train last October with a 14-second technical knockout, Seth Petruzelli. He’ll lock horns with ex-WEC 205 pound champion Doug “The Rhino” Marshall. Top heavyweights Roy “Big Country” Nelson and Jeff “The Snowman” Monson will also collide in a featured MMA fight as well.

The boxing portion of the event will be headlined by Roy Jones Jr. taking on Omar Sheika.

Perfect fit

Nothing worse than gimic fights, hmmm maybe mickey mouse can finally fight bugs bunny on that card too :rolleyes:

rovert

Perfect fit wrote: »

Nothing worse than gimic fights, hmmm maybe mickey mouse can finally fight bugs bunny on that card too :rolleyes:

Yes as a decorated amateur is a cartoon character right? :rolleyes:
You do know how many top MMA fighters share Bobby's background.

Perfect fit

Oh yea i think Lashley will walk threw shamrock, but i only think a fight like this happens off the back of the whole WWE thing, i think Lashley deserves better competition but thats just my opinion. I know shamrock is a legend and all but he is way over the hill at this stage

rovert

Agree with your opinion on the fight and on Shamrock himself.

Perfect fit wrote: »

but i only think a fight like this happens off the back of the whole WWE thing

But I disagree here, WWE is pretty much a footnote in Bobby's career as is treated as much in that press release. The promotion of the fight is focused far and away more on both men’s legitimate backgrounds.

Perfect fit

rovert wrote: »

Agree with your opinion on the fight and on Shamrock himself.



But I disagree here, WWE is pretty much a footnote in Bobby's career as is treated as much in that press release. The promotion of the fight is focused far and away more on both men’s legitimate backgrounds.

Maybe i am wrong there, but i think a new promotion will always look to get as many fans as early as possible and with 2 former wwe stars they will have the majority of wwe fans tune in regardless if the fact they were wwe stars is promoted or not. Its gonna be a quick fight tho, provided shamrock doesnt get cut int he warm up again

calex71

lashly is a beast of man for sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbhMgz56Vbg


a little annoying is the fact that while these guys have recognition in other 'sports' and a background in whatever they get in at the top so to speak.
No getting a good pro record first. I have respect for Brock but not a fan at all but to me it seemed like he was learning on the job some what.

Lashly vs Brock anyone???? Id actually like to see that no matter how wrong i think it would be

As long as as the commission sanctions elbows off the top of the cage id watch for sure

Dragan

All this tells me is that Shamrock is either desperate for money, or desperate for wins. The pattern now seems to be to fight guys who do not have his level of experience or his level of submissions. If you are really worried about getting punched in the head it makes sense.

Personally, i think Bobby is going to ****ing maul him. And not because he is even that good yet, it's just that Ken is done.

Perfect fit

yea it has to be the money why else would he put himself through it, i dont think even shamrock could possibly think hes going to win this.WWE nonsense aside lashley v brock would actually be an interesting fight

rovert

Perfect fit wrote: »

Maybe i am wrong there, but i think a new promotion will always look to get as many fans as early as possible and with 2former wwe stars they will have the majority of wwe fans tune in regardless if the fact they were wwe stars is promoted or not. Its gonna be a quick fight tho, provided shamrock doesnt get cut int he warm up again

You are really over estimating Bobby's star power here. He isn’t the crossover that Brock although Ill admit he is a curiosity for some.

calex71 wrote: »

lashly is a beast of man for sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbhMgz56Vbg

His nickname when he was training for WWE was “Black Lesnar” (as un PC that may be) for a reason.

Perfect fit wrote: »

Lashly vs Brock anyone???? Id actually like to see that no matter how wrong i think it would be

I remember Bobby saying he could have if he wanted to go directly to UFC and fight Brock but he wants to go the “traditional” route of gaining wins and experience on small shows first. He seems to be genuinely dedicated to the sport.

Perfect fit

Maybe not over this side of the water, but based on the fact he was wwe champion for a good while (according to my 11 year old wwe encylapedia brother) would make him a star in the US. There viewing figures alone would mean everyone knew who he was,wwe stars in america are treated like movie celebs. if he didnt have star power we wouldnt be talking about him right now he'd just be another amatuer fighting his way up. That being said i hope people forget about his wwe backround becuase id say he could go far but you dont want to be hearing lines like former wwe champion and current ufc champion lol

rovert

Perfect fit wrote: »

Maybe not over this side of the water, but based on the fact he was wwe champion for a good while (according to my 11year old wwe encylapedia brother) would make him a star in the US.

There viewing figures alone would mean everyone knew who he was,wwe stars in america are treated like movie celebs. if he didnt have star power we wouldnt be talking about him right now he'd just be another amatuer fighting his way up. That being said i hope people forget about his wwe backround becuase id say he could go far but you dont want to be hearing lines like former wwe champion and current ufc champion lol

Don’t know if you've ever watched Wrestling but there was a time where promotions promoted shows on the perceived value of their titles in the same manner any real sport would. But since the late 90s they shifted focus almost completely to storylines and stars drawing fans. Despite always been seen this way by the mainstream WWE was become more an "attraction" than ever akin to the circus or a Hannah Montana concert. Part of the dilution of the sports aspect of it was creating three World titles for storylines purposes. The lowest profile of which Lashley held. When Quinton Jackson won the title at UFC 71 people were half jokingly suggesting that WWE should put the chain around Lashley as there was such a disparity in charisma between the two, hoping some of it would rub off. Lashley was a huge flop despite being a pet project of WWE. Dont let anyone kid you about Lashley's success.

Perfect fit

i definitly dont know enough about wwe for this discussion, i no nothing about the wwe but yet i new who he was(before his mma career started)! If someone that has no interest and has never watched the wwe knows who he is surely surely he hasnt been as unsuccesful as that! Regardless how his career ended thats what hes known for to the majority of people, if you say to someone bobby lashley the first thing they will think of will probably be wwe. anyways back on topic hes going to mush ken shamrock

Fall_Guy

Jesus, I just got my google on an apparently Lashley competed at 177lbs during his college days. That seems insane to me. I mean, from what I can tell lesnar was somewhere in the region on 280 when he was at college. This guy put on 100lbs of muscle in his twenties, and after already being an accomplished athlete at a smaller weight.

If he was able to make 177, I wonder what sort of frame he had before he got huge, 6'3" and 177 is pretty damn lean!

http://www.bobbylashley.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=9

Bubs101

rovert wrote: »

Don’t know if you've ever watched Wrestling but there was a time where promotions promoted shows on the perceived value of their titles in the same manner any real sport would. But since the late 90s they shifted focus almost completely to storylines and stars drawing fans. Despite always been seen this way by the mainstream WWE was become more an "attraction" than ever akin to the circus or a Hannah Montana concert. Part of the dilution of the sports aspect of it was creating three World titles for storylines purposes. The lowest profile of which Lashley held. When Quinton Jackson won the title at UFC 71 people were half jokingly suggesting that WWE should put the chain around Lashley as there was such a disparity in charisma between the two, hoping some of it would rub off. Lashley was a huge flop despite being a pet project of WWE. Dont let anyone kid you about Lashley's success.

He wasn't a flop but he never made it to the upper echelons and his time there is incomperable to Brock's. What will hold him back though are his post match interviews. Whereas Brock is really good at them, Lashley was pathetic

rovert

Bubs101 wrote: »

He wasn't a flop but he never made it to the upper echelons

He was a flop he did make it to upper echelons he main evented PPVs and had what were pushed as high level feuds. But he did connect with the fans.

Bubs101 wrote: »

his time there is incomperable to Brock's.

I agree but not for the reasons you seem to think. Brock advanced more in every aspect in his first 3 or 4 months than Lashley did in his entire time there especially in ring presence.

Bubs101 wrote: »

What will hold him back though are his post match interviews. Whereas Brock is really good at them, Lashley was pathetic

I don’t know if you are talking in the future or present tense here. But I will say Bobby seems a lot more comfortable doing interviews MMA than he did in Wrestling.

I really don’t want to take this thread off topic by talking about this stuff in this depth. I only introduced Lashley's WWE career to discuss his power as a draw on this show and in MMA in general.

Fall_Guy wrote: »

Jesus, I just got my google on an apparently Lashley competed at 177lbs during his college days. That seems insane to me. I mean, from what I can tell lesnar was somewhere in the region on 280 when he was at college. This guy put on 100lbs of muscle in his twenties, and after already being an accomplished athlete at a smaller weight.

If he was able to make 177, I wonder what sort of frame he had before he got huge, 6'3" and 177 is pretty damn lean!

http://www.bobbylashley.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=14&Itemid=9

There are a lot of question marks over how he achieved it so quickly lets put it that way.

Judomad

Isnt the Snowman down to fight 8 days later in Cage Wars in Belfast too ???

Dragan

Judomad wrote: »

Isnt the Snowman down to fight 8 days later in Cage Wars in Belfast too ???

Yeah, he has done that before, taking fights very close together...within 2 weeks at times.

Perfect fit

rovert wrote: »

I only introduced Lashley's WWE career to discuss his power as a draw on this show and in MMA in general

you said he didnt have enought star power to draw attention to the show tho??

rovert

Perfect fit wrote: »

you said he didnt have enought star power to draw attention to the show tho??

No I didnt I said he isnt a cross over star like Brock although I admit he is a curiosity for some.

Perfect fit

rovert wrote: »

No I didnt I said he isnt a cross over star like Brock although I admit he is a curiosity for some.

apoligies read one of your posts wrong:), what do people think of this 'hybrid card'

rovert

Perfect fit wrote: »

what do people think of this 'hybrid card'

Speaking of crossovers with boxing and MMA fans in the States seeming to be oil and water demographically. I also wonder what the setup will be the MMA fighters be fighting in a ring or a cage? I’d imagine the MMA fans will attend the boxing but I’m doubtful that boxing fans stay for the MMA and that’s if they attend it in the first place. Whenever a promotion announces a hybrid card always expect to use it as springboard for a Boxer vs MMA Fighter fight. Ken being Ken would probably be well up for that.

Judomad

Dragan wrote: »

Yeah, he has done that before, taking fights very close together...within 2 weeks at times.

i suppose i done it before two, 6 days between was what i done lol, but for a heavyweight at that level it cud be dangerous, one cut in the fight on this card and the Cage Wars big name will be out...huge risk by Cage Wars imo

Dragan

Perfect fit wrote: »

apoligies read one of your posts wrong:), what do people think of this 'hybrid card'

I don't think it will work. The shows are paced completely different, production styles are different, audiences are, for the most part, different.

Judomad wrote: »

i suppose i done it before two, 6 days between was what i done lol, but for a heavyweight at that level it cud be dangerous, one cut in the fight on this card and the Cage Wars big name will be out...huge risk by Cage Wars imo

Yeah, they must be working off the theory of an early sub win for Monson.

Which is not unheard of!:D

T-K-O

Ouch..... this one is going hurt Ken - The dude should not be taking on these guys at this stage of his career.

Fozzy

Lashley was useless in WWE. He certainly didn't have anything close to the success that Lesnar had there, nor anywhere near as much talent and ability

He's got the amateur credentials though, and he's in great shape. I could see him doing pretty well for himself in MMA. And I think that he'll walk through Shamrock

I think the biggest thing that works against hybrid cards is the pace of the different sports. Even a fan of both MMA and boxing can find the slower, more methodical pace of an average boxing match too much after watching an MMA fight, where the likelihood of a finish is much higher. I've seen cards like that before, as well as MMA and pro wrestling cards, which is the same deal. But shows that mix MMA and kickboxing work much better, as both sports have a similar pace. I've heard the same about kickboxing and san shou cards

Pride Fighter

I have a feeling this will end up like Mir-Lesnar 1. Shamrock by kneebar:)

T-K-O

Fozzy wrote: »

Lashley was useless in WWE. He certainly didn't have anything close to the success that Lesnar had there, nor anywhere near as much talent and ability

He's got the amateur credentials though, and he's in great shape. I could see him doing pretty well for himself in MMA. And I think that he'll walk through Shamrock

I think the biggest thing that works against hybrid cards is the pace of the different sports. Even a fan of both MMA and boxing can find the slower, more methodical pace of an average boxing match too much after watching an MMA fight, where the likelihood of a finish is much higher. I've seen cards like that before, as well as MMA and pro wrestling cards, which is the same deal. But shows that mix MMA and kickboxing work much better, as both sports have a similar pace. I've heard the same about kickboxing and san shou cards

The writers decided who has ability and who has not.... Lashley is a very athletic powerful guy and he has looked impressive thus far.

The problem with Ken is that he can not take a punch anymore the resistance is gone. Sad to see.

rovert

T-K-O wrote: »

The writers decided who has ability and who has not....

In a lot of cases this true but Lashley's it is SO totally not. The writers and Vince McMahon himself gave Bobby Lashley every chance to get over and he didnt. Again this line of discussion is straying away from fight discussion IMO.

Pride Fighter wrote: »

I have a feeling this will end up like Mir-Lesnar 1. Shamrock by kneebar:)

Cheeky

Mir is a lot more durable than Shamrock nowadays.

Fozzy

T-K-O wrote: »

The writers decided who has ability and who has not.... Lashley is a very athletic powerful guy and he has looked impressive thus far.

That's being ignorant of the nature of pro wrestling. The writers decide where the wrestler features on the card, but it often has nothing to do with actual ability. Brock was an amazing wrestler. Lashley was not by any stretch of the imagination. His matches and interviews were terrible. Memories of him actually put me off wanting to see him in MMA. I was in no rush to see his debut

rovert

The thing about Bobby Lashley is that like most amateur Wrestlers he never watched Pro Wrestling growing up and therefore didn’t learn the near unteachable lessons about carrying yourself like a star, ring presence, cutting money interviews in a Pro Wrestling context etc. WWE and it fans were completely spoiled by Brock Lesnar and Kurt Angle being such absolute naturals at Pro Wrestling despite themselves not watching Pro Wrestling and living in the amateur Wrestling bubble. Lashley wasn’t the sponge or the natural that Lesnar or Angle were, some people can not be taught certain things and Bobby was one of those people. I don’t know how this will have any bearing Bobby’s aptitude for MMA as it is a totally different skillset so I’m not as pessimistic as Fozzy is.

I did listen to podcast interview with Bobby a month ago but I shut it off after ten minutes as he was really boring. Like I said before he is no Rampage Jackson in the charisma stakes who by the way did watch Memphis Pro Wrestling with Jerry Lawler etc growing up and wears a chain in homage to another wrestler Junkyard Dog. Funny that