Is Bobby Lashley Ready for Strikeforce?

For someone feasting on cupcakes for the last two years, Bobby Lashley is in fantastic shape.

Feeding Wes Sims to Lashley on short notice seems a bit fishy, does it not? Didn’t Strikeforce learn anything from Elite XC and their handling of Kimbo Slice?

Yes, Lashley is a raw talent, but I think we all understand he’s not the second coming of Brock Lesnar. So what do easy wins accomplish? It doesn’t help Lashley’s development and it creates something only slightly better than the circus sideshow that Elite XC created with Kimbo.

Is maintaining Lashley’s unbeaten record so important to Strikeforce that they’re content to spoon-feed him soft competition, hoping he develops in the meantime? Or are they hoping we buy the story that Sims was simply the best they could do without throwing Lashley straight into the fire against Brett Rogers or Fedor?

The merry-go-round of potential opponents started with Yohan Banks, moved to Jimmy Ambriz, and finally inexplicably stopped at Wes Sims. There’s enough talent in Strikeforce’s heavyweight pool that Lashley could have signed on to a more competitive fight and still come away with a victory. If they keep signing Lashley to glaringly easy fights, it won’t be long before the fans start calling "foul."

Thankfully, Strikeforce’s success isn’t dependant on Lashley. They have enough star power in Fedor, Rogers, and Dan Henderson to draw fans in. With a roster like that, Lashley can fail and the roof isn’t going to cave in like it did for Elite XC. Obviously the promotion fears for its marketability should Lashley lose.

If that's the case Saturday night, at best Strikeforce has some egg on its face for signing someone that can’t beat an MMA journeyman. At worst, the public takes that signing as indicative to how they scout talent and do business in general. It would weaken the promotion’s credibility and most likely drive what fans they brought in to the UFC or possibly away from MMA altogether.

It’s understandable that every promotion wants a Brock Lesnar in their ranks. However, the reality of it is that there are precious few to go around.

At the risk of causing a collective groan for the comparison, it makes me yearn for someone to take a cue from Lashley’s past employer, the WWE, and interrupt a pay-per-view to call Lashley out.

I’m not insinuating that Lashley is a paper tiger, and I can’t blame his camp for taking these fights. It creates exposure for him and generates ratings for Strikeforce. With the success and star power of Lesnar, I completely understand the "strike the iron while it’s hot" mentality.

The similarities to Lesnar are many: freakish physique, champion amateur wrestler, ex-professional wrestler, and a drive for competition. While all these apply, it’s become apparent that Lashley isn’t quite the sponge Lesnar was in picking up the fight game. Otherwise, why the need for the one-sided fights?

Sadly, we will never really know the extent of his talent if he doesn’t fight anyone who can challenge him. At some point he needs to step up and take a fight he might actually lose to avoid comparisons to Kimbo and his situation in Elite XC.

It also doesn’t help his cause to see him in TNA Wrestling. Is he moonlighting in Strikeforce? The fact that this question can be brought up obviously doesn’t bode well for Lashley’s credibility in MMA.

I want to see Lashley succeed. I really do. I think he’s a genuinely good person and could bring added crossover appeal to the sport, but the fact is that watching him fight nobodies doesn’t prove anything. Maybe finally being signed to a promotion with five of the top 20 heavyweights will provide more challenging opponents and more interesting matches.

Assuming Lashley is who we think he is, that should provide a good foundation for his resume. At age 33, he needs to get a move on if he wants to be on top of this sport for any length of time.