Bobby Lashley: Fights Sapp tonight on PPVLashley weighs in at 255.4 lbs; Sapp shows up at 322.2 lbs.

Six is a lucky number for me.

I was born at 6:06am, the morning of the 26th, after 36 hours of mom's hard-fought labor (thanks, ma). I see a six somewhere, usually on a clock, and the numerologist in me comes out. I see a six, and it grabs some sort of attention of mine, without fail.

In this case, 6, as it is for most people, is going to be a rather unlucky number for one of the two big-men going at it on Saturday. Bob Sapp and Bobby Lashley are set to meet in only Lashley's fourth-ever MMA bout.

I can't say I've ever walked into a fight giving up exactly 66 lbs. I once fought an amateur match with a guy who outweighed me by 110 lbs. with modified pancrase rules... hardly Bob Sapp, and hardly what we're looking at here. 100 lbs. at the amateur level... alright. 66 lbs. between two monstrous athletes with a ton of contrasting experience between the two of them... someone's getting hurt. It's inevitable.

About Bobby Lashley

As of the time of this writing, Lashley is 3-0, having finished w of his opponents in the first round of their skirmishes. His wins are over Joshua Franklin, Jason Guida (older brother of wild-man Clay Guida) and most recently Mike Cook. In his two victories, albeit against lower-level and lesser-known opponents at this stage of his career, Lashley's shown that he can finish fights with both his power and his grappling acumen.

Lashley was introduced to the WWE in his debut as a three-time National Amateur Wrestling Champion, having attended Missouri Valley College where he won three national amateur wrestling championships between 1996 and 1998. In addition, Lashley was deemed a four time All–American, a two time Armed Forces Champion, and a 2002 Silver Medalist at the Military World Championship.

In February of 2008, Lashley was released from his contract with the WWE, where held professional wrestling titles as both WWE and ECW champions, putting him at a comparable level of success in professional wrestling to what Bob Sapp has had in Japan. By December of 2008, Lashley got in the ring and spent 41 seconds brutalizing his opponent to the tune of a ref stoppage due to a cut.

Sapp stands as his highest profile, and largest-sized opponent, not just in MMA but perhaps ever in his athletic combat career. The strict guidelines governing collegiate wrestling weight class structure do not allow for, or in other cases recognize, out-of-class matches between wrestlers. Lashley's experience with an opponent this large is debatable at best. One of the greatest MMA fighters of our time, a guy who goes by the name of Randy Couture, has the same problem. Call it stylistic disposition. Wrestlers have a hard time getting bigger, stronger opponents off of them once they're underneath one.

About Bob Sapp

"The Beast," as he's called, has never been short of pre-fight words, both elaborate and insinuative. His well-thought approach to selling a fight with his words has worked to excite fans of his for years. His attitude towards fighting, his tremendous size and musculature, and his agility considering the muscle he packs on all make Bob Sapp not only dangerous, but outright lethal. His fight with Minotauro lives on in the minds of most fans, not because Minotauro came back to submit him, but because Sapp looked as though he'd just killed a Brazilian in the ring with that slam.

Witnessing capable, functional strength on that level in any sport, let alone MMA, is something that resonates in the minds of fans the world over. It lends itself to every ineptitude a fighter may bring into the ring, and in Sapp's case, it's extraordinary. One punch from Sapp changes a fight. If Sapp hits you, you're in trouble. If he can get you close enough to pick you up and slam you, you're in serious trouble.

Yet, just this last May, Sapp lost to Ikuhisa Minowa at DREAM 9 via a trick leg-lock that had Sapp tapping out at just 1:16 of the first round. Sapp weighed 322 lbs. for that fight. Minowa, at a modest 196 lbs., was able to not only ground Sapp, but he was able to tap him out while there. Guaranteed, Lashley's considering this.

Comparing Bobby Lashley and Bob Sapp

Bobby Lashley

Lashley's advantage here will be in his wrestling credential, and all that comes with it. With only three MMA fights, he's got a lot to prove, and his opponent assuredly will be looking to exploit every end of his inexperience in the sport. Both are on unfamiliar territories in ways, with Lashley fighting a much bigger opponent, and Sapp fighting in a cage instead of a ring for the first time in years, if ever.

* Lashley's shot, from those I talk to who have trained him prior, say his shot is incredibly fast for a heavyweight.
*Once on the ground, Lashley shows control, poise, posture and patience. He doesn't give up position easily. He hangs on and strikes well while holding once there.
* The downfall for Lashley here may be his lack of striking experience, and in this case, he's taking on a fighter with a substantial reach advantage on him.

Bob Sapp

Sapp is a monstrous, hulking mass of athlete, perhaps the most muscular and looming of all the fighters K1 ever employed, all big men and tall-guys aside. Sure, big men in K1 like Nortje, Hong Man Choi and Semmy Schilt are great. None of them inspire half the physical intimidation factor that Sapp does.

In Sapp's 10 wins, he's finished 7 of his opponents by KO or TKO, and 2 by submission. In his four losses, he's been submitted thee times, and TKO'ed once.

Heading down the list of Sapp's win-loss record, it's hard to compare viably the weight of eight his record of Lashley's against one-another. Take for example Sapp's first ten wins, in this order.

* Yoshihisa Yamamoto, Pride 20 - Sapp TKO'ed him. He also outweighed him by 110 lbs.
* Kiyoshi Tamura, Pride 21 - Sapp TKO'ed him in 11 seconds. He also had 112 lbs. on the poor little guy.
* Minotauro, Pride Shockwave - Sapp damn near kills him, then gets tapped out. First loss.
* Yoshihiro Takayama, Bom-Ba-Ye 2002 - Sapp still has like 50 lbs. on the guy. 1st round sub for Sapp.
* Stefan Gamlin, K-1 Japan GP 2003 - Finally, someone his size. ... but wait, he's 0-0. Sapp wins here.
* Sumiyabazar Dolgorsuren at K-1 Beast 2004 - He was 0-1 coming in vs. Sapp, and left 0-2 in one round
* Kazuyuki Fujita at K1 Romanex - Sapp submitted to strikes, round two. Fujita lighter by 8 lbs. lighter and 4 inches shorter.

I don't want to turn this into a rip-fest, but the glaring consistency is that his time in Japan may have afforded him an opportunity to beat up on smaller, Japanese fighters for lengthened periods of time., between multiple organizations. In a stronger, more agile athlete than Sapp has seen in a long time, Lashley presents the kind of threat that Sapp has got to at least somewhat think about.

Hojak's Take on This Fight

In the rare event that Sapp doesn't realize where his only chance to win this fight lays, god help him. Figuring that he's bringing a K1 background into the fray against a wrestler who wants nothing to do with flying hands or knees if he can avoid the prospect of such things, he has to know that his takedown defense, and ability to find Lashley early are integral to his game plan

Any deviation from the script here is bad for Sapp, as given his size and the conditioning it takes to drag over 300 lbs. of muscle around the ring, this only gets worse for him the longer Lashley is able to fight at his own pace.

If, at any point, Sapp isn't charging forward and definitively in the range of something strike-worthy, look for Lashley to be playing the outside angles, perhaps circling away to the side of Sapp's lead leg to more effectively shoot for a single-leg on the top-heavy giant. No question about it, and Sapp's demonstrated it for us... he doesn't know all he could about getting someone off of him once it's on the ground.

Provided Lashley has less to lose in facing "The Beast" in only his fourth-ever MMA bout, I believe he'd be happy to score on points, avoiding the killing clubs of Sapp as they attempt to rain down from 4 inches higher than Lashley, and slipping inside what will become inevitably slowed shots over the course of their fight. This game plan gives Lashley everything I believe that it would take him to win.

My guy feeling: Bobby Lashley by Unanimous Decision

Yes, I know Bob Sapp has never lost a decision before.

He's also never fought Bobby Lashley yet.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

  |    |    |