Heavyweight prospect Bobby Lashley signs with Strikeforce-So what’s next?

Continuing their recent run of free agent signings late Thursday night Strikeforce signed the top MMA heavyweight prospect available Bobby Lashley to a multi-year deal. For the California based Strikeforce their hope is that lightning strikes twice and that Lashley can transform into the same type of draw as fellow former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar.

Though both Lashley and Lesnar both turned to sports entertainment after successful collegiate careers as amateur wrestlers the comparison both starts and stops right there. In there WWE heydays Lesnar was quickly rose to main event and top draw status while Lashley was popular, but never really "got over" with fans.

In MMA winning cures all. For Lesnar in less than 24 months of major promotion time he has captured the UFC heavyweight title and become the top draw on pay per view. In order for Lashley to emulate that unprecedented rise to the top Strikeforce will have be careful with their matchmaking while at the same time ramping of their promotional efforts in order squeeze out all the cross over potential Lashley has.

Rather than reinvent the wheel Strikeforce should follow the strategy used to promote Lesnar by the UFC as closely as possible. Instead of risking a loss to an unknown heavyweight from outside the current Strikeforce roster matchmakers may want to consider a date with current top contender Fabricio Werdum. The Brazilian submission specialist game is similar to Frank Mir's skill set. If, Lashley pulls off the upset he gains instant credibility. If, Werdum wins he status grows stronger with the casual MMA fan.

Lashley is scheduled to make his Strikeforce debut on Saturday January 30 live on Showtime.Due to his amateur wrestling background and built WWE fan base Lashley is ranked number nine in the ULTMMA50- a pound for pound listing of the 50 best unsigned prospect in mixed martial arts.

Press Release

Former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) heavyweight champion and undefeated mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Bobby Lashley has signed a multi-year agreement with STRIKEFORCE and will make his debut for the world championship MMA promotion at BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida on Saturday, January 30.

The 6 foot 3 inch, 250 pound Lashley, also a former collegiate wrestling star for Missouri Valley College and member of The United States Army, will face an opponent that has not yet been determined during the live, SHOWTIME® telecast of STRIKEFORCE: Miami, the historic, first-ever STRIKEFORCE event in the state of Florida.

In his last MMA start on June 27, 2009, the 33-year-old pulverized and scored a first round (3:17) TKO on 6 foot 5 inch, 350 plus pound goliath Bob "The Beast" Sapp with a barrage of punches in Biloxi, Mississippi. The win brought Lashley's overall MMA record to 4-0.

"I'm looking forward to fighting for STRIKEFORCE and challenging myself by taking on some of the top heavyweights in MMA," said Lashley, a native of Junction City, Kansas and resident of Denver, Colorado.

After getting his feet wet with several matches in both the WWE Raw and SmackDown! shows in 2005 and 2006, Lashley captured the WWE United States Championship by defeating rival competitor "JBL." During this stint with the league and another in 2007, Lashley wrestled several top superstars, including The Big Show and John Cena.

Lashley made his MMA debut on December 13, 2008, earning a 41 second TKO over Joshua Franklin after Franklin sustained a cut that would not allow him to continue their fight.

Earlier this year, Lashley joined Total Nonstop Action (TNA) Wrestling. In his first appearance with the league on July 30, he helped tag team matchup partner Mick Foley defeat superstars Kurt Angle and Kevin Nash.

Tickets for STRIKEFORCE: Miami officially go on-sale tomorrow/Friday, December 11 at the BankAtlantic Center ticket office as well as online at www.Ticketmaster.com or by phone at (800)745-3000.

Doors at BankAtlantic Center open at 7 p.m. The first non-televised, preliminary card fight will begin at 8 p.m.

STRIKEFORCE in March 2009 signed a multi-year agreement to stage live MMA events on premium cable television network SHOWTIME. The promotion made its live, primetime debut on CBS with the "Fedor vs. Rogers" mega-fight that it co-promoted with M-1 Global on

Saturday, November 7 and generated 5.46 million viewers for the main event between the world's number one heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko, and superstar Brett "The Grim" Rogers.

About STRIKEFORCE
STRIKEFORCE (www.strikeforce.com) is a world-class mixed martial arts cage fight promotion which, on Friday, March 10, 2006, made history with its "Shamrock vs. Gracie" event, the first sanctioned mixed martial arts fight card in California state history. The star-studded extravaganza, which pitted legendary champion Frank Shamrock against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Cesar Gracie at San Jose's HP Pavilion, played host to a sold-out, record crowd of 18,265. Since 1995, STRIKEFORCE has been the exclusive provider of martial arts programming for ESPN and, after 12 years of success as a leading, world championship kickboxing promotion, the company unveiled its mixed martial arts series with "Shamrock vs. Gracie." In May 2008, West Coast

Productions, the parent company of STRIKEFORCE, partnered with Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment (SVS&E), an entity created in 2000 to oversee all business operation aspects of the San Jose Sharks and HP Pavilion at San Jose.