Bobby Lashley MMA debut vs Joshua Franklin at MFA on Dec. 13
by James Iannotti on Nov 12, 2008 9:57 PM EST
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MMAmania.com first reported last month that former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley would make his professional mixed martial arts debut on the first-ever Mixed Fight Alliance (MFA) event set for the American Airlines Arena in Miami, Fla., on December 13.
Today, we were able to confirm that the upstart promotion announced that fellow MMA newcomer Joshua Franklin will be his opponent.
Lashley is a three-time national collegiate champion wrestler from Missouri Valley College. His sheer size and strength, along with his extensive wrestling background, have unsurprisingly drawn comparisons to UFC heavyweight title contender Brock Lesnar.
He's currently under contract with the American Fight Leauge (AFL), but is making his debut under the MFA banner on loan because the AFL has decided to hold off on its first event until the Spring of 2009.
Not much is known about Lashley's opponent, Joshua Franklin, other than he's a 30-year-old fighter making his pro debut with a background in boxing and Brazilian jiu jitsu.
The main event of MFA: "There Will Be Blood" will be a heavyweight rematch between former UFC champion Ricco "Suave" Rodriguez (34-9) and Jeff "The Snowman" Monson (26-8). The two men previously fought at UFC 35 almost seven years ago with Ricco winning by third round technical knockout.
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Mark Munoz is returning on WEC 37, Dec 3. :)
the last fight before they fold the divisions to the UFC.. I hope he wins so that he could compete in the ufc card in philippines.
by weoweoweo on Nov 12, 2008 11:07 PM EST reply actions
yep. i wanna see how much he improved from his last fight. Hope he lives up to being the 205 version of faber. haha.
by weoweoweo on Nov 13, 2008 8:25 AM EST up reply actions
Hmm, this should be pretty interesting considering the background he has. I can’t wait to see how it turns out.
by Dayvet on Nov 12, 2008 11:11 PM EST reply actions
Yea, he sounds like a pretty cool person in all of his interviews, very humble. Conan and other ATT guys think he’s got good potential.
by NameNotRequired on Nov 13, 2008 3:06 AM EST up reply actions
i kinda always had a feeling that he would be doing mma, i hope he dominates.
by it'sT.O.baby!!! on Nov 12, 2008 11:14 PM EST reply actions
Look at his stupid head!!! AHAHAHA!!! he looks constipated!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
by The 5th Beatle on Nov 13, 2008 1:07 AM EST reply actions
imagine he comes otu and starts this rant about how he doesn’t do juice and he’s sick and tired of ppl saying he’s a juicer like lesnar did… that picture itself if you look hard enough he’s sweating out Juice thats how much T4 he’s doing
by ricky on Nov 13, 2008 1:13 AM EST reply actions
He is no Brock and I’m not sure what that is even saying…..he will be a bust, mark my words.
by Robert on Nov 13, 2008 8:30 AM EST reply actions
6’6, 300lbs, with wrestling background….can Lesnar even stop that?
by r-dub on Nov 13, 2008 8:37 AM EST reply actions
If size mattered Mark Hunt would have been unstoppable…Bobby wrestled at 185 pounds!
by Robert on Nov 13, 2008 11:06 AM EST reply actions
I must agree with Robert. He will be a bust. R-dub, the difference between Lesner’s wrestling experience and this dude is huge. Lesner was a 2x Div. 1 National champion and this dude is a 3x NAIA national champion. Now don’t get me wrong, being a national champion is a great honor, but tank it from me, I was a 3x NAIA All-American, and with exceptions (which he may be??) there is a huge difference is competiton. Lesner would probably light him up on the ground. But ya never know… I guess in the long-range future we may find out.
by Mark on Nov 13, 2008 12:21 PM EST reply actions
I agree with you Mark, there is a huge a difference….but Robert, Mark Hunt is 5’10, 8-inches is a big difference…
by r-dub on Nov 13, 2008 2:06 PM EST reply actions
Lol… for fuck sake lads, lets wait and see how this turns out all this " Oh he’s not brock brock would kill him blah blah blah " lets see his debut first eh… at the end of the day guys, Hes taller than brock, hes stronger than brock, hes probably, PROBABLY faster than brock… And ffs, he’s black, Everyone knows they fight the best lol. I really dont think any opinions matter untill he actually fights. its the only way we can gain an insight.
by James Gilmartin on Nov 13, 2008 4:46 PM EST reply actions
177 pounds in ncaa missouri 1998. wwe a stout 273 and now hard for him to stay at 250! Bobby has said he might go down all the way to 205 pounds. flintstone vitamins yes he stacks bam bams with dinos!
by natronz on Dec 2, 2008 7:52 PM EST up reply actions
Bobby is not 6’6". He’s 6’3". He’s debuting at 230. That’s not a large heavyweight. Brock is much bigger than him. Bobby is a muscle shark. He has to give up a lot of strength and power to gain speed. Brock doesn’t have to. That’s gonna be the difference here.
by robert on Dec 13, 2008 12:35 PM EST reply actions
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