Former World Wrestling Entertainment star and up-and-coming mixed-martial-arts heavyweight fighter Bobby Lashley (2-0) will fight former NFL lineman and kickboxer Bob Sapp (10-3-1) on June 27. Lashley, an American Top Team fighter, announced the super-heavyweight fight with a Monday Twitter posting. Lashley, who defeated Joshua Franklin and Jason Guida in his first two pro bouts, will now take on a competitor who will surely sell some tickets but likely to do little to help him mover up the MMA ladder. The fight takes place at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Miss., for an upstart (and currently unnamed) MMA promotion. While a victory over Sapp will likely do little to help Lashley's reputation in the industry, the K-1 kickboxer does present a legitimate challenge based on his size alone. The approximately 350-pound Sapp will likely outweigh Lashley by 100 pounds on fight night, and his 6-foot-5 frame should give him a reach advantage. However, given Lashely's wrestling credentials (he's a two-time NAIA national collegiate wrestling champion), Sapp could be in serious trouble if the fight goes to the ground. Sapp is 5-1 in his past six MMA fights. He last competed at the Dec. 31 K-1 Dynamite!! show in Japan, where he defeated Akihito Tanaka (who was dressed as a cartoon character) with a first-round TKO.
THis seems like a match made in heaven for those two. I wonder if the fight will really come off. There are always so many variables leading up to an MMA fight in "upstart promotions."
