Wrestlers in MMA
If you haven't heard, there is a trend of WWE wrestlers moving over to MMA. It started in 2007, when Brock Lesnar (1-1) announced that he was scheduled to fight in K-1. After Brock debuted in K-1 with a dominant first round TKO over Min Soo Kim (3-6), he was signed to a UFC contract and it was announced at UFC 77. This turned the MMA world on its head, as the signing of Brock was only one fight into his pro career. By and large, most diehard MMA fans were not happy with this signing. The consensus thought was that Brock had all the talent, but he needed more seasoning before he was ready to take on the top talent in the UFC. And Frank Mir (11-3) proved everyone right by subbing Lesnar with a Jiu-Jitsu 101 knee bar at UFC 81 in February.
Now, Brock is scheduled to take on UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman in August. Coleman is also a dominant wrestler, but he's 43 years old and hasn't fought in almost two years. Multiple published stories - as well as Coleman himself - are reporting that Coleman asked for this fight from UFC President Dana White. I think that Coleman has an excellent chance to win this fight, as I'm not sure if Brock will be able to overpower him. Brock isn't going to beat Coleman standing up, and there is a good chance that the fight could be a stalemate on the ground. Both fighters are former NCAA wrestling champions, and Coleman's age won't be as much of a factor when it comes to strength.
Brock has had mixed amounts of success thus far, but there are two more former wrestlers reportedly headed to MMA. I'll break down what I know of each fighter and how I think they'll fare in the sport.
Bobby Lashley. From what I have gathered, Lashley is 6-3, and he weighs in somewhere around 270 pounds. The heavyweight limit for most MMA organizations in 265 pounds, so Lashley might actually be cutting some weight if he hopes to fight at HW. Lashley is a former 3-time NAIA champion wrestler from Missouri Valley College, where he fought at 177 pounds. After finishing college, Lashley went into the US Army. To me, this part of his life is just as important as the wrestling when it comes to MMA. Army soldiers train like crazy, and you have to have a great work ethic to be successful in MMA, as there are so many aspects that you have to train in to be a top fighter. By all accounts, Lashley is well-built. I think that he can be a good fighter in due time. It will all depend on what type of camp he finds to train with. If he can find a solid camp, then this guy might be one to look out for.
Shelton Benjamin. Benjamin is billed as a 6-2, 245 pound wrestler. But from the looks of all of the pictures that I've seen, he could be as much as 20-25 pounds lighter. If he could make 205, he'd be a gigantic light heavyweight and would have a size advantage over just about everyone at light heavyweight. Benjamin attended Minnesota like, and he finished 6th at the Big Ten Tournament in 1996. From the few wrestling videos I've found of him, he looks like an extremely athletic guy. He also looks like he could be solid in MMA. The athleticism is something that will help him a lot, as he is very flexible and would make an excellent jiu-jitsu fighter. Look out for Benjamin as well.
Many of you may not know this, but the Pancrase organization in Japan was actually created by former pro wrestlers who were tired of the pre-determined world of sports entertainment. So guys like Ken Shamrock, Bas Rutten, and Yoshiki Takase decided to start their own organization where the top stars were determined by who was the best fighter - and Pancrase was born. So there is a place for pro wrestlers in MMA.
News
Word Victory Road: Sengoku results from Sherdog.com. The event has completed, and there are spoilers on that link, so if you don't want to see who won, then don't click on the link. Josh Barnett (20-5), Takanori Gomi (27-3), and Kaz Misaki (18-8-2) were all on the card.
The UFC has announced the televised card for April 19's UFC 83: GSP vs. Serra 2 card. The televised fights are as follows:
-WW Title Unification: Georges St. Pierre (15-2) vs. Matt Serra (9-4)
-MW: Rich Franklin (22-3) vs. Travis Lutter (9-4)
-MW: Nate Quarry (9-2) vs. Kalib Starnes (8-2-1)
-MW: Michael Bisping (14-1) vs. Charles McCarthy (10-4)
-LW: Mac Danzig (17-4-1) vs. Mark Bocek (5-1)
This looks like a decent undercard with a great main event, but it has the potential to be a flop. None of the fights should really be all that close, but the most intriguing fight is Quarry vs. Starnes, as both fighters are very close in skill level.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua has re-injured his knee and is out of the UFC 85 main event in a fight where he was scheduled to face Chuck Liddell. This is a big loss for the UFC. Not only was Shogun/Liddell one of the most compelling non-title main events that they had, but there aren't too many other options for Chuck to face on that card, as most of the other top LHWs are already scheduled in fights. Some possibilities include Dan Henderson (22-7), who is coming off of a loss to Anderson Silva last weekend, but could move back up to 205 to fight Chuck, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (13-3), who is currently fighting in Canada but his contract could be bought out by the UFC, Ricardo Arona (13-5) or even Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, who is coming off of a loss at UFC 79. Who ever they put in the cage with Chuck had better watch out, though...because he's back! I'd like to see him fight Nogueira. That would make for an excellent striker vs. grappler match. Let's see if Lil Nog can get past Chuck's takedown defense.
Blog Schedule
Mon: Weekend Wrapup
Tue: Varies
Wed: Random MMA Thoughts
Thu: Varies
Fri: Draft Talk
Sat: Varies
Sun: Who is the Greatest? (debuts SUNDAY!)
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