Are Bobby Lashley and Strikeforce Afraid Of A Real Fight?

Strikeforce is having a really hard time trying to find an opponent for Bobby Lashley.

At least, that's how it seems.

Strikeforce initially matched Lashley up against Yohan Banks, a fighter with a 2-1 MMA record, who has not fought in over a year. The fight was rejected by the Florida State Boxing Commission because it was seen as being "non-competitive."

Having a fight get rejected as non-competitive is rare in MMA, but shouldn't be completely surprising when you consider that Strikeforce wanted to matchup a 250lb monster of a man with a 4-0 record up against an opponent who had not fought in over a year, and was coming in on short notice.

It looked a lot like Strikeforce was just trying to get Lashley an easy win on television.

Unable to make that bout, it now looks like Jimmy Ambriz will be stepping in against Lashley.

The 39-year-old Ambriz is 6-12-1 since May of 2003.

For whatever reason, Strikeforce is either unwilling, or unable to find a credible opponent for Lashley.

While it's true that Lashley is still a relative newcomer in the sport of MMA, I feel that Lashley should be fighting against competition a little bit stiffer than Ambriz at this juncture.

So why is Lashley being fed yet another journeyman fighter?

It could be the case that Lashley wants an easy fight because he's been too focused on pro wrestling to train seriously for MMA. If that's the case, then this certainly doesn't bode well for his future in MMA.

It could be the case that Strikeforce doesn't want to risk Lashley to the tiniest degree by giving him a tougher opponent. I hope that this is not the case, because as much as it is important to protect prospects to some degree, MMA should also be about real competition.

Perhaps Strikeforce has simply been incompetent in its matchmaking, considering they've had months to try to find Lashley a viable opponent. Strikeforce even has Japan's DREAM promotion as a possible bank of fighters to go to, should there not be a viable opponent stateside, and those guys will fight anybody.

In any case, what we've ended up with is some real pro-wrestling style matchmaking, and I fully expect Lashley to lay a massive beatdown on Ambriz. It'll be an athletic spectacle, but will it really even be MMA?

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