Bobby Lashley Eyeing Bare Knuckle Boxing
Bobby Lashley has not competed in mixed martial arts since 2016. He was on an eight-fight win streak before focusing on his professional wrestling career, which recently had him in South Africa to do some media for the WWE. With an MMA record of 15-2, it is fair to say Lashley is probably as good a fighter as he is a wrestler.
However, for Lashley, it would seem that the thrill of non-predetermined outcomes is calling his name and the world of bare-knuckle boxing might be his next stop. In a recent appearance on WWE’s The Bump, Lashley said in response to “What is the old Bobby?” his reply was, “I’m very basic, I’m a fighter. I love to fight, I love to compete.” (That video above). He added, “I’ve wrestled my entire life, amateur wrestling. I just met with the bare-knuckle guys and talked to them about possibly doing bare-knuckle, may next year if Vince [McMahon] allows me to do it.”
“I like to train, I like to fight, I like to wrestle.” –Bobby Lashley
Something about his recent preparation for an upcoming wrestling match has Lashley feeling as if he is returning to his roots. Lashley’s s roots, as he stated come from his amateur wrestling days and his early years of doing pro-wrestling but he also won five straight matches when he began his professional mixed martial arts career. He had wins over Bob Sapp and Wes Sims before suffering his first loss to Chad Griggs in Strikeforce back in 2010. He would suffer another loss to James Thompson in 2012 before he went on the win streak he exited MMA with, avenging the loss to Thompson at Bellator 145. Lashley’s last match in MMA was with Bellator where he won via submission at Bellator 162.
While bare-knuckle boxing, like the rest of combat sports, is likely on hold, in a year’s time Lashley could be back in action outside of the “squared circle.”
