Bobby Lashley Welcomes Brock Lesnar Fight, Talks CM Punk

The former TNA champion also talks about bad blood with his next opponent, James Thompson.

By Jay Anderson /

Bobby Lashley is generally a pretty reserved guy. In the MMA world at least, he doesn't go about calling people out. There's been no real trash-talking from him, just a lot of hard work, respect, and dedication. Maybe that's why he's never had as much focus on him when it comes to his pro wrestling to MMA transition as Brock Lesnar did. Then again, Lesnar was WWE champion and later UFC champion; Lashley has fought for some major promotions including Strikeforce and Bellator, but hasn't tasted gold in the big leagues - yet (he has won the Xtreme Fight Night and Shark Fights titles however). That said, in an interview with Ring Rust Radio, Lashley was more than happy to talk about a potential fight with Brock Lesnar, should Lesnar sign with Bellator. Though unlikely - if Lesnar does return to MMA, it will probably be in the UFC - Bellator brass have confirmed interest in signing Lesnar. About Brock, Lashley told the show that were Lesnar to sign with Bellator,
...I think one of the biggest fights he could have is me € The crazy part is I have never even come face to face with Brock. I don€™t know him and I have never met him. We just have always had a lot of comparison so this time give the fans what they want. Brock and I would beat each other up pretty bad but we will walk away very financially healthy € Our styles match and we wouldn€™t over do the other person since we have the same styles. It would be a very strategic match and I like the match up € Any fighter at the end of the day that says it€™s not about the money is ridiculous. We wouldn€™t be training this hard, putting our bodies on the line, and torturing our bodies if there wasn€™t a payday at the end of the day.
There's no question this pairing would bring in huge ratings for Bellator, be it on Spike TV or as a Pay-per-View. It's the kind of pairing that would result in a lot of bonus money being tossed around, because it would mark the first time that two former WWE stars threw down in a legitimate martial arts battle. They're also two legit amateur wrestling stars, and physical freaks as well. Lashley also talked about how he hasn't needed to change his training much while moving between his pro wrestling and MMA careers, just making small tweaks depending on which he's doing. Interestingly, he also addressed his upcoming rematch with James Thompson, one of only two men to have defeated him in his MMA career. They meet at Bellator 134 in February. On Thompson, Lashley stated
There's a little bad blood between us, and he knows why. I know that this little media circus that we're going to be going in, leading in to that fight, there's going to be a lot of discussion about it, and people are going to watch back that fight and understand what happened. The fight the first time, I believe, I don't want to be that guy that says this, but I'm going to be that guy that says this, I felt that I won that fight the first time.
And, of course, Lashley was asked about CM Punk's jump to MMA, and how someone with less experience, like Punk, would fare.
I've been torn between this with the whole Punk thing. I'm being torn hard both ways. I heard in an interview one day that I can understand from a fighter's point of view, but then by the same token I can understand CM Punk's point of view as well. I told him as soon as he did it, I went online and I said congratulations, do what you want to do, because that's what it's all about. It doesn't matter whether people think he's ready or not, if he says he's going to do it, it's him that has to step in that cage and that's where I take my hat off to him and respect him, because it's even harder for him without having that real extensive background, to be able to do it, so I take my hat off to him.
Lashley called the Punk move a win-win situation, and that he'd tune in for it. That no doubt echoes the sentiments of many fans.