Lashley vs Sapp

Over the past couple of days it has come out that former Pride star Bob Sapp will be fighting former WWE star Bobby Lashley on June 27 in Biloxi, Mississippi. Neither guy is a top ten fighter and yet this fight will have more interest regarding in than a lot of fights that would happen between top ten guys.

Neither Sapp or Lashley are freak shows (see Giant Silva in Pride) but both guys are marketable for something other than their mma resume. Bob Sapp is 10-3-1 I believe. Certainly a decent record, but he is well known for his antics outside of the ring, the marketing appearances he has done outside of the ring, and the way he was promoted in Japan. I'm not even sure what would classify as his biggest victory, I'm assuming Kiyoshi Tamura. The two decent fighters he has fought, Nogueira and Fujita, he has lost big. However people are still intrigued to see him fight. This just goes to show you that how you are marketed and how good your management team is can go a long way in getting you attention (see Kimbo Slice as well)

Lashley is 2-0 and could be a legit prospect in the world of MMA. However people I think still care about a pro wrestler coming over to the world of MMA, especially with the success that Brock Lesnar has had in becoming UFC champ. People forget that he was a two-time NAIA national champ in college in wrestling. If that was someone who went straight into MMA today, he would get some attention. But because Lashley is a pro wrestler, that is why he is getting attention. I can't wait to see Lashley potentially develop over his next couple of fights and possibly become a legit top 20 Heavyweight. It also came out yesterday that Bobby Lashley will be fighting Mike Cook in MFC 21 on May15. I would be there ringside for that event doing coverage for sherdog.com and I will get to meet Bobby Lashley.

Is Sapp/Lashley a contenders fight? Not really. Will people be more interested in the outcome of this bout rather than the Chris Lytle/Kevin Burns fight in the UFC the weekend before? By a mile. Am I one of those people? Unfortunately, yes.