Bobby Lashley Dominates in Strikeforce Debut

Bobby Lashley made his Strikeforce debut earlier tonight against Wes Sims of The Ultimate Fighter fame. Lashley went into this fight with a 4-0 record, but this was the first time Lashley got to fight in one of the 2 top MMA promotions in the U.S. right now. Of course Lashley's involvement with pro wrestling was heavily mentioned, with both his history with WWE and TNA brought up a few times. For anyone that doubted Lashley was the real deal, and was just another pro wrestler trying to get in on Brock Lesnar's success, Lashley proved he was the real deal in MMA by dominating Wes Sims with a TKO win in the first round. Lashley took Sims down fast, unloaded punches, and never really seemed to be in any trouble. After Lashley took the back, Sims laid flat on the mat, causing the referee to stop the fight, although Sims complained about the call. It was evident to anyone that Lashley won convincingly, and is going to be ready for some big fights in Strikeforce. Rumblings about a fight with Fedor have already been making the rounds, and this win will probably only push the idea more. With the more success Lashley sees in MMA, one has to wonder how much we will see him in TNA at this point.

Ken Shamrock Set to Face Bobby Lashley in MMA Fight

In a pretty shocking move, it's been announced that Roy Jones Jr.'s "March Badness" hybrid boxing and MMA show, that 2 former WWE stars will face off in an MMA match, as "The World's Most Dangerous Man" Ken Shamrock will take on MMA newcomer Bobby Lashley. This is the very first time (to our knowledge) that 2 former WWE stars have faced off in MMA. Shamrock being a former WWE Intercontinental Champion, and Lashley most recently being the ECW Champion before leaving WWE. Lashley only recently made the transition from WWE to MMA, and easily won his MMA debut. Shamrock just fought a couple of weeks ago at the show "War Gods" which he promoted, and got his first win in a few years. Although Lashley is new to MMA, he may just be the favorite due to his size, skill, youth, etc. Shamrock is an MMA legend, but in his mid 40's, Lashley will be coming at him full force, maybe even more than Kimbo Slice would have in the scheduled Shamrock vs. Slice fight that ended up not happening. Dana White has said that he has no interest in Lashley coming to MMA, and doesn't think Brock Lesnar's success can be captured by another wrestler, but if Lashley scores a win over Shamrock, people will notice, and doors will be opened for Lashley, and he would no doubt be on to bigger and better things. It may be premature to think about now, but could a huge Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley showdown for the UFC Heavyweight title be happening in the future? Lashley's first big recognition will depend on this Shamrock fight at "March Badness" on March 21.

Brock Lesnar is the UFC Heavyweight Champion...But is He Being Taken Seriously Yet?

Brock Lesnar defeated UFC legend Randy Couture this past Saturday to capture the UFC Heavyweight Championship - with less than 5 MMA fights under his belt.

Ever since Lesnar entered the world of MMA the doubts have been numerous, with many people claiming it would only be a matter of time before Lesnar failed. Granted, he did lose his first UFC fight against Frank Mir (due to a rookie mistake, in a fight he controlled the majority of,) but Lesnar has since defeated the much more experienced Heath Herring, and now has beaten a UFC Hall of Famer in Couture. Lesnar has not only won fights, but has dominated in such an unstoppable manner, his fights are drawing major attention (and money) to UFC.

Of course Lesnar is not a guy who is cheered in any of his fights so far, as he hasn't, and probably never will break the "WWE Wrestler," since the WWE is where his name became famous, but Brock's huge win has opened the door for MMA fans and promoters to have no choice but to take qualified guys from the world of pro wrestling seriously. But even with the world title win, Lesnar is still new to the sport, and STILL has yet to be "accepted" by most as a serious MMA Star.

Lesnar beat Couture, but people will blame Randy being old as the reason Lesnar won. Brock is going to have to successfully defend his title against a wide variety of MMA names in order to gain the respect of the MMA industry. Up next for Lesnar will be the winner of the Interim Heavyweight Title fight between champion Antonio Nogueira and the man who defeated Lesnar, Frank Mir. Either fight with Lesnar would be another money fight and seemingly any future fight involving Lesnar garners interest from those who both love and hate him.

Some people may still think Lesnar will not be hugely successful in MMA aside from these first few wins, but no doubt Brock has made an impact, and the eyes of MMA are watching Brock Lesnar, who so far has proven he is "The Next Big Thing" for MMA, just like he was in WWE.

Yamma Pit Fighting Debuts This Weekend, Bringing Back Old Style UFC.

MMA is about to get another contender in the ever growing world of fighting promotions. Yamma Pit Fighting is going to be a lot different than most. First off, it is being run by Bob Meyrowitz, who was the major force behind the original UFC. Now back in my day, when i first discovered UFC via the local video store, it was basically a tournament of tough guys from various disciplines, or hell even some that had no discipline, they were just good at fighting in bars and such. The tournaments were great fun to watch, but did have some problems, the main one being, fighters who would would get hurt and couldn't advance to the next round, thus causing replacement fighters, and unfair advantages and disadvantages throughout the tournament.

Well, Yamma is bringing back the tournament format for the first time in years, and Yamma has gone with a new surface for this tournament, which will both make things more safe for fighters to continue on in the tournament, and keep the action non-stop. Basically the surface will be a bowl like structure, which will keep fighters from being pressed up against the cage for long durations during the fight, and force continued action. The tournament, will crown the first ever Yamma heavyweight champion, and will even feature former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Ricco Rodriguez. So we get a tournament, which were always fun years ago, and we get a champion right away off the first show, and hopefully that will mean no weight divisions in Yamma, which in my opinion, just take away from the excitement of MMA. On top of the 8 man heavyweight championship tournament, Yamma gives us 2 "Masters Superfights." Now this is another cool concept, that will take 2 big name fighters, some even from the golden era of UFC, and have 1 big grudge fight, to settle a score, resolve an issue, or maybe even start a new feud of sorts. Originally on this card, we had the return of "The Russian Bear" Oleg Taktarov, who was one of the legends of the original UFC, taking on Don Frye, who is also a legend from that era. Unfortunately, Don Frye had to back out of the fight due to an injury, so Mark Kerr, who is another UFC tournament winner, will now take on Taktarov, in Oleg's return fight. Also, Butterbean was scheduled to battle "Big Daddy" Gary Goodridge in the other Masters Superfight, but Goodridge cannot fight due to a loss in Korea he incurred a couple of weeks ago, so Butterbean will now battle Pat Smith, who some may remember for his impressive performances in the earlier UFC tournaments.

All the changes to the Masters Superfights, and even a few to the tournament, dont look good on Yamma, but I personally hope they can get past it, and give us a new MMA product to those of us who aren't fans of the super strict rules and regulations that UFC, and a lot of other MMA promotions go by. The tournaments were action packed years ago, and I'm sure they still can be. The early tournaments allowed small guys to showcase their skills, and take out guys twice their size, so why can't that still happen? And why not let some of the older guys that paved the way for UFC, get in the cage and prove they can still go, instead of being pushed aside for the latest young star. Yamma will hopefully blow the doors of opportunity open for guys to come in and prove themselves, tournament style, and give MMA fans a product based on pure excitement. With the people that created the early UFC behind this, I hope they pull it off, and Yamma tournaments will be a force in MMA, that will bring in many big name fighters, and contend with UFC, EliteXC, etc.

For more information, including the full fight brackets, check out YammaPitFighting.com.

Kimbo Slice Puts Tank Abbot DOWN at EliteXC!

The dream fight of sorts has gone down, and Kimbo Slice dominated once again, over the legendary brawler Tank Abbot. This fight was something that some MMA organizations wouldn;t touch, due to both fighters having no real discipline other than "brawling." On the other hand, as judging by the fans reaction, it was a welcome change of pace to throw two big bad asses in the cage, and see who would win. The match was about what you'd expect, with punches being thrown from the get go. Kimbo nailed some shots early, but the referee momentarily stopped things due to Kimbo hitting Tank in the back of the head, but as soon as things were resumed, Kimbo unloaded once again, knocking Tank down a few times, before NAILING him, and finally putting him face down into the mat. The fight was short and sweet, with an electric crowd, and Kimbo was the huge favorite. Dana White supposedly doesn't think this guy has the credentials to come to UFC, but he's got something special, that's earned him a huge following, and with this win over Tank, Kimbo climbs the ladder even further, and EliteXC has something red hot on their hands with Kimbo. Now the question is, who's next for Kimbo? Well this was talked about at the end of the show, and it just so happens another UFC legend has signed to debut next month with EliteXC, and the commentators agreed....what a fight it would be, if we got to see Kimbo Slice.....take on, the World's Most Dangerous Man....Ken.....Shamrock. Sure some would say Ken is past his prime, but at this point, Kimbo vs. anyone with name value, and especially someone skilled like Shamrock, would do HUGE numbers in the MMA world right now!

**Update** Here is the video of Tank Abbot vs. Kimbo Slice!

Is MMA the Biggest Threat to WWE, and even TNA?

I figure it's time for my debut here at the Pro Wrestling Roundup. I told the owners that I would sit back for awhile and get a feel for how the site works before jumping in, but well, there's absolutely nothing going on here, so I'm going to jump right in and light this place up. I am the Midnight Writer, and as I blog from the woods, while sitting at my campfire, I'll be giving my views on pro wrestling happenings, and even some MMA. I've decided to kick things off with a little bit on my views on MMA's popularity over the past few years, and if it will be a threat to the pro wrestling world.

I think MMA has recently become so popular due to the aspect of 2 bad asses entering a cage, and just beating some ass. I also think this was the reason WWE and to some degree WCW's popularity sky rocketed in the late 90's. Wrestling made the change, which some would say was caused by Hulk Hogan joining the nWo, and tossing the red and yellow and joining the super cool Hall and Nash in the nWo. Things were taken to the next level of course, when Stone Cold Steve Austin was let loose on WWF, cussing, drinking beer, flipping off everyone in sight, all of which had never been seen or allowed on a WWF show. And of course, there was ECW, which basically invented this whole movement that WWF called the "Attitude Era." ECW was doing the "cool heels," the swearing, the violence, years before WWF or WCW changed directions. None the less, this era gave males 18 and up something to watch, and wrestlers to cheer for. No longer were good guys the smiling do gooders, but they were shit talkers who just wanted to fight. Around this same time....UFC became popular, and over the past few years especially, has gotten hugely popular. UFC is the biggest U.S. MMA company, but its popularity has sparked other companies to pop up, with rosters that include former UFC names, and other popular MMA fighters from around the world. While wrestling (especially WWE!) has taken a step backwards, and has gone back to a stale format of forcing cheezy babyfaces down our throat whether we like them or not, MMA brings no non-sense action that appeals to the same demographic that I feel pro wrestling had back in the 90's. And while UFC does have people who complain about how it's gone to a more rule filled format, and less of a pit fighting style, other promotions such as the new YAMMA Pit Fighting organization that has been started up by UFC founder Bob Meyrowitz, which will be bringing back the tournament and superfight concepts that made the original UFC so great to watch, and will also feature MMA Legends like Don Frye and Oleg Taktarov. I think this MMA promotion will be one to watch, as the tournaments were always fun to watch, and big name legendary fighters are always fun as well. Also EliteXC will produce a dream match of sorts this weekend, as Tank Abbot takes on internet fighting icon Kimbo Slice (both pictured above.) Sure this won't be a great martial arts battle of skill, but who cares! This is a great match up, with 2 great brawlers, and what the original UFC was all about. Do fans older then 17 years old or so, want to see the above pictured fighters go at it, or John Cena doing a fireman's carry on someone new (sometimes the same guys over and over,) every single week, sometimes more than once. I'll admit, Cena's surprise return got an awesome reaction, but I'm afraid we are doomed to have a repeat of the past, with Cena being the main focus of every show, and RAW becoming horribly repetitive once again. TNA wrestling is enjoyable to me, and its a different product, but something is still missing there, maybe it's having shows in different arena's instead of every Thursday show in the same place? Maybe it's lacking a couple more big name guys (Lashley anyone?) But TNA is just not on WWE's level, may never be, but is a nice alternative in wrestling terms, but has nothing that will spark a wildfire of interest and hook people like MMA has.

With all this diversity going on, and even the recent hype for Brock Lesnar's fight...MMA is pulling in more fans, giving them more options, and not mixing it with kids programming, and childish humor on a weekly basis like wrestling. In closing, I'll always love wrestling, and I'll be reporting on things that interest me, but I am taking notice that MMA is bringing in more and more fans, and bringing in levels of intrigue and excitement that wrestling has not been able to produce since around 2002. Wrestling needs to decide if they're a kids show, or an adult show, as mixing the 2 just doesn't work, and MMA may keep on capializing, but as long as WWE keeps selling T-Shirts (which seems to be their main goal these days,) they'll remain in business....in The Midnight Writers opinion!

HUGE News for UFC: Brock Lesnar signed

During the UFC PPV tonight, former WWE champion and Wrestlemania XIX main eventer Brock Lesnar was seated in the front row. He was later interviewed by Joe Rogan and introduced as the latest signee for the Ultimate Fighting Championships.

Lesnar made his Mixed Martial Arts debut this past summer, defeating Min Soo Kim in only 1:09 of the first round on June 2, 2007 at the K-1 Dynamite USA show in Los Angeles. Lesnar easily took down Kim and pummeled him with strikes for the win. Lesnar, who is expected to fight in UFC's depleted heavyweight division (Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture announced he was leaving UFC last week) told Rogan he was "ready for war".

After a monster push that included several WWE title reigns and victories over The Rock, Hulk Hogan, Big Show and main eventing Wrestlemania in his first-ever appearance on the WWE's flagship PPV, Lesnar walked out of the company in 2004 to attempt an NFL career. When he was cut from the Minnesota Vikings training camp, Lesnar turned down an offer to play for the NFL's European division. He worked briefly for New Japan Pro Wrestling, including a short run as IWGP champion before starting to train in MMA.

Lesnar has not wrestled professionally in the United States since his WWE departure, but did have brief negotiations with TNA several months back. His last professional wrestling bout was a loss to his Wrestlemania XIX main event opponent Kurt Angle during the debut of Antonio Inoki's IGF promotion in Japan, unofficially losing the IWGP title he won in New Japan (and later vacated, although he kept possession of the title belt).

There was no announcement as to Lesnar's first UFC fight.

Credit: PWInsider

Fresh off the TNA Mobile text alerts!

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling sent out a text message alert to their "TNA Mobile" subscribers yesterday afternoon. Here's the news along with some of my comments:

- Kevin Nash says he feels in the best shape of his life and isn't ruling out one last run in the ring.

Backstory: A few weeks back there was a rumor Nash would fight Kurt Angle in the main event of Bound for Glory. Nash has been pulling backstage for TNA to bring in Scott Hall and Sean Waltman. Hall has been getting in shape and wrestled Carlito in Puerto Rico this summer. Waltman has been teaming with TNA star Judas Mesias in Mexico.

- TNA will be touring Texas soon.

- TNA is looking to hold PPV events in 2008 in Ohio, Virgina, Illinois and Massachusetts.

- Gangrel was backstage at last week's TV tapings.

Backstory: As we reported here last week, former WWE star Gangrel is now a porn director. The "New Porn Order" sent out a press release with a quote from Gangrel: "I am thrilled to be joining the New Porn Order and taking this step into a new level of my career. Directing offers a new challenge that I am very excited to be taking on. I look forward to the many great films that will come from this union." Wow.

- Kurt Angle is in talks with the IFL about competing in the future.

Backstory: Angle was interviewed by FOX News in late september and continued to put IFL over. He said that he would be able to work for the company while still fulfilling his responsibilities with TNA Wrestling. He also mentioned that he would need a year to train before fighting.

Also, don't forget Thursday night is the debut of the new 2 Hour TNA Impact on SpikeTV at 9pm!