Well, That Didn’t Take Long…

June 28, 2009, at 6:44 pm

For those who aren’t in the know, former WWE wrestler Bobby Lashley had his second MMA fight against Bob Sapp last night. Since whatever company he fought for doesn’t have the stupid Youtube policy that the UFC has, I can show the fight in it’s entirety below.

Lets break down Lashley performance. He immediately shot for the take down against a guy who is purely a striker. That was smart, and the takedown was strong. You’d expect that from a guy who was a former Army amateur wrestling champion.

Once the fight ends up on the ground, Lashley shows how raw he still is. He ends up in half-guard and starts whaling away. The problem is this: Sapp’s guard is hardly legendary. He easily could have passed into side control or even mount Sapp so his punches would be more impactful. I know that there are some wrestlers really like half-guard and won’t pass, but Lashley took three minutes to finish a fight that should have been done in under a minute.

If I had to grade the performance, I would give him a B-. He won, so he gets points for that. However, he also needs a ton of work. He showed nothing beyond his one strength, his solid wrestling. His ground and pound was below average, and his ability to advance position was non-existent.

My position on Lashley hasn’t changed. He’s Brock Lesnar-lite. His ceiling is way lower.