Current TNA World Heavyweight Champion Bobby Lashley is returning to the cage! Bobby Lashley, one-time WWE superstar and current TNA World Heavyweight Champion (where he wrestles under just his last name, Lashley), has signed on with Bellator MMA, now headed by Lashley's old Strikeforce boss Scott Coker, and will make his promotional debut this September 5th Connecticut. Once linked to the WSOF, Lashley never appeared for that organization, and fought most recently in independent promotions XFN (winning their heavyweight title) and GWC. Lashley is also a Shark Fights champion. Since joining TNA Wrestling on Spike, speculation has been rampant that Lashley would also join Bellator and work under both promotions, just as fellow fighters King Mo and Rampage Jackson have done (though neither have been used much at all by TNA). Though his career in MMA has failed to reach the level of success that Brock Lesnar had in being a cross-over star, Lashley has a respectable 10-2 professional record in MMA, including early career wins over Wes Sims and Bob Sapp. After losing to James Thompson (also fighting in Bellator these days) at SFL 3, Lashley won all three of his subsequent fights, all of which went down in 2013. While the focus then shifted back to pro wrestling, it seems that MMA was never far from the fighter's mind. In a relatively shallow Bellator MMA heavyweight division, Lashley has a chance to be a real crossover star. Fights confirmed for Bellator 123 on September 5th, 2013: Pat Curran (C) vs Patricio 'Pitbull' Freire (Featherweight title fight) Cheick Kongo vs Lavar Johnson Muhammed 'King Mo' Lawal vs Tom DeBlass Bobby Lashley vs Josh Burns Brennan Ward vs James Irvin
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
