Lashley’s 'freak show' fight against Sapp is a great career move

Written by Lyman Hoyt   |   Thursday, May 07 2009

Bobby Lashley (far left) isn't exactly stepping up in class against K-1/PRIDE vet Bob Sapp, but its still a great career move that will open countless opportunties in Japanese fight sports and beyond.

Former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley will face Japanese pop culture icon Bob Sapp in the main event of a MMA card dubbed ‘Ultimate Chaos’ scheduled for June 27 in Biloxi, Mississippi.  On the surface, it looks like a pointless walkover for Lashley against a ‘freak show’ opponent who hasn’t really been taken seriously as a fighter since Mirko Cro Cop shattered his orbital bone during a 2004 K-1 matchup.  In reality, however, it could be a brilliant career move for Lashley that could guarantee his professional autonomy for years to come.

By this point, everyone knows that ‘the deal’ is with Bobby Lashley.  He became a huge star in the WWE, most famously ‘representing’ Donald Trump in his ‘hair vs. hair’ match against Vince McMahon’s proxy Umaga at Wrestlemania 23.  He left the promotion under somewhat strange circumstances that have never been fully explained by either side.  Initially, Lashley said that he had ‘quit’ the WWE, but soon backtracked saying that his departure was due to ‘circumstances beyond his control.’   There has been some speculation that his exodus from the WWE had a racial component, and that theory was given further validity by the fact that he was very quickly released from his contract with the promotion.   Vince McMahon has always been known to hold his talent to ‘non compete’ agreements in situations like this (most famously Brock Lesnar, who ended up in a legal battle with the WWE over his ‘non compete’ agreement), and the fact that Lashley was almost immediately free to do as he wished in his career suggested that he had some sort of bargaining power that others in his situation did not.  In any case, as of early 2007 Lashley was no longer working for the WWE and announced that he was training for a career in MMA.

As a ‘shootfighter’ he brought a similar skillset to the sport as current UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.  While Lesnar’s amateur pedigree was more impressive, Lashley was a solid collegiate wrestler at Missouri Valley College where he won two NAIA National Championships.  Like Lesnar, he’s a physically imposing specimen at 6’3” 275 pounds and is arguably blessed with greater agility than the reigning UFC champ.  He didn’t mess around when it came to training for his new profession, affiliating himself with American Top Team.  He certainly can’t be accused of rushing into his MMA career, and after a stoppage win over Joshua Franklin and a unanimous decision victory over Jason Guida he’s 2-0 as a professional fighter.  Up next is a bout in the Edmonton based Maximum Fighting Championships against Mike Cook, and then his matchup with Sapp.

For Lashley, unfortunately, Brock Lesnar’s success in the UFC may have had the effect of denying him an opportunity with the #1 US MMA promotion.  Dana White reportedly has no interest in Lashley due to his similar background as their current heavyweight champion.  While it’s understandable why the UFC wouldn’t want to be perceived by the general public as using the WWE as a ‘feeder system’, it has made Lashley’s career much more difficult to get off the ground.  He’s had to fight in regional promotions which offer less in terms of visibility and money as bigger groups.

This brings us to the very strange case of Robert Malcom ‘Bob’ Sapp.  Sapp made a brief run at an NFL career, and had a somewhat ignominious fight sport debut as he defeated William ‘The Refrigerator’ Perry on a ‘Toughman’ boxing special aired on the FX Network in 2000.  His life changed forever when he got involved in fight sports in Japan, competing in both MMA and kickboxing with PRIDE and K-1 respectively.  His massive size and strength allowed him to overwhelm lower level opponents, though he does somewhat inexplicably have two K-1 victories over legitimate legend Ernesto Hoost.  His poor cardio conditioning and lack of a technical fighting background made him easy pickings when he stepped up in class, however, and his career as a serious fighter really ended in 2004 when Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic defeated him via brutal TKO and shattered his orbital bone in the process. 

Despite his limited success as a professional fighter, Sapp became a huge pop culture celebrity in Japan.  At one point he finished second to then President George W. Bush in a survey of ‘Most Recognizable Americans” and he’s a fixture on television and in commercials.  His likeness has appeared on everything from books to CDs to pachinko machines.  It’s really hard to think of a comparison to Sapp in current American pop culture—maybe George Foreman at the height of his pitchman days but even his media ubiquity at that time pales in comparison to Sapp. 

While he’s no longer considered a ‘serious’ fighter by the Japanese public, he is still a box office draw.  In 2002 and 2003 the respected Wrestling Observer Newsletter named Sapp the world’s #1 pro wrestling/MMA box office draw and while his popularity among fight fans has ebbed somewhat he can still put ‘butts in the seats’.  Sapp has also spent some time in the ‘worked’ environment of Japanese professional wrestling and briefly held the IWGP title in New Japan Pro Wrestling.  Most recently, he’s competed in the HUSTLE pro wrestling promotion (probably the closest Japanese equivalent to the ‘sports entertainment’ of the WWE) and appeared on the K-1/DREAM ‘Dynamite’ show fighting an anime character named ‘Kinniku Mantaro’.  In other words, at this point in his career Japanese fight promoters book him very carefully against opponents that can’t expose his many weaknesses.

American fight promoters haven’t been so kind to Sapp.  In early 2008 he headlined the Strikeforce: At the Dome event in Tacoma, Washington.  It was billed as a homecoming for Sapp, who attended college at the University of Washington and he was given a made-to-order opponent in Jan ‘The Giant’ Nortje who came into the fight with a 1-5 career MMA record.  Nortje destroyed Sapp in under a minute in what most observers suggested—if not hoped—would be his last ‘competitive’ fight. 

Realistically, Sapp’s forthcoming fight with Bobby Lashley could be even more one sided than the Nortje fiasco.  On some levels, it’s hard to figure out why Sapp would want to face a dangerous opponent and particularly in the US where his name recognition is minimal.  It’s certainly not for the money, as he could ‘fight’ a comedian or radio DJ in Japan and make much more with much less risk.  As far as Lashley is concerned, size notwithstanding he’s actually a step *down* in class from his last opponent, Jason Guida.  

While the mainstream American MMA fans may dismiss this matchup as a ‘freak show’ fight pitting Lashley against an overmatched and not particularly challenging opponent, in reality it is a brilliant career move for the former WWE superstar.  On the competitive level, the critics are correct—Sapp is an opponent that Lashley should destroy.  Lashley is roughly the same height as Sapp and while he’ll give up close to a hundred pounds he’s a chiseled and powerful 275.  He’s got far superior cardio conditioning—Lashley likely spends more time in the gym in a given week than Sapp does in a year.  And since Sapp hasn’t knocked out a legitimate opponent since 2005 it’s even hard to give him the edge in striking power at this point. 

The reason that it’s such a brilliant move for Lashley is that it immediately allows him to make a name for himself in Japan.  By doing so, he gives himself a wealth of new career opportunities.   Most obvious, is that he immediately becomes more attractive to DREAM and Sengoku who would have to do little more than promote him based on a victory over Sapp.  Appearing regularly for either promotion would make his career as a MMA ‘free agent’ much more lucrative.  In turn, a successful run in the Japanese promotions would also make him more appealing for the UFC, Strikeforce, etc.

It also could provide Lashley with a very lucrative ‘moonlighting’ opportunity in Japanese pro wrestling, a la Josh Barnett.  Unlike many US pro wrestlers, Lashley has never competed for an international promotion.  He made a one shot appearance on a Lucha Libre show in Mexico for the AAA promotion, but is a relative unknown in Japan.  A win over former IWGP champion Sapp immediately makes him an easy wrestler to promote—he could even do a ‘worked’ pro wrestling rematch against Sapp. Lashley has already been considering the financial opportunities that pro wrestling can provide, and appeared for the US based TNA promotion on a recent PPV.  Working in Japan would likely pay more for less work, and allow him to keep his pro wrestling career ‘separate’ from his MMA career, a la Bill Murray doing TV commercials in the movie ‘Lost in Translation’.  For whatever reason, US fans are uncomfortable with a competitor in a ‘shoot’ fighting sport simultaneously being involved in a ‘worked’ pro wrestling environment, while Japanese fans have no issue with it whatsoever. 

Potentially, it could even make Bobby Lashley a Japanese pop culture star like Sapp.  While Lashley isn’t as gregarious as Sapp, he comes off as a decent, sharp guy in his interviews.  Sapp could even give him ‘the rub’ by having him come on to talk shows with him and introducing him, suggesting that even though “he beat me” he’s a good guy and a great fighter.  They could appear in commercials together, Sapp could ‘manage’ or ‘second’ Lashley in pro wrestling matches.  The possibilities are endless, and perhaps this gives us an explanation of why Sapp is taking the fight in the first place—maybe he’s already got a deal with Lashley?

At this point in his development as an MMA fighter, Lashley is still a few fights away from a point where he can think about ‘stepping up in class’.  A fight against Sapp presents few downsides for him professionally other than the obvious damage to his career from a loss.  That risk is the same against any fighter at this level, however, in that a loss to a perceived ‘overmatched’ opponent could serious impact his future in MMA.  Unlike the average ‘safe’ opponent, Sapp presents a number of unique upside benefits—not the least of which are financial.

So even though Bobby Lashley should easily beat Bob Sapp, it’s a great move for him to take the fight.  By doing so he expands his career opportunities exponentially and with them greatly enhances his earning potential as a ‘free agent’ MMA fighter.

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