Bellator 130's Bobby Lashley: 'I'd lose sleep' over early-career criticism

Bobby Lashley feels like he was viewed as a sideshow when he first entered MMA in 2008. He believes people saw him as little more than another pro-wrestling crossover looking to surf the wave off Brock Lesnar’s momentum.

An ugly loss to Chad Griggs in his sixth fight didn’t help that perception, either. Lashley was ridiculed for his efforts, and as a result, he nearly gave up on the sport entirely.

These days, though, Lashley, who returns tonight at Bellator 130, is much more comfortable with his position as an MMA fighter. He doesn’t allow outsiders to weigh him down, mainly because he’s the only one who knows the time and dedication put into his craft.

“I took the rough criticism from the fans to heart at the beginning, and I’d lose sleep over it,” Lashley told MMAjunkie. “You know, ‘Oh, you didn’t do this and should’ve done that.’ I wrestled for 18 years. I was a three-time college champion, and I took second in the world, so I got mad and wanted to fight them. But then I just wondered why I was validating the opinion of someone who’d never trained after all the work that I put in.”

Lashley admits he felt pressure to perform in a certain way early in his career. His skillset was considerably underdeveloped when fighting for the now-defunct Strikeforce organization in 2010, but he would do his best to enter the cage and put on an entertaining battle.

More than four years later, Lashley owns a much richer knowledge on how to prep for a fight. All he had before were amateur wrestling credentials, but now he sees himself as a true martial artist, and he won’t let anyone change how he approaches the sport.

“Fighting is about not getting hurt and winning; it’s a strategy game,” Lashley said. “Fans see two guys who are like Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, and they say, ‘Oh my god, these are the greatest fighters in the world!’ But then you take a fighter who strategically makes his way through the fight and wins without taking any damage, and then they complain that the fighter didn’t do what they wanted them to do.

“I stay away from that. I don’t listen to that. I listen to the guys that I train with. Those are the guys who I look for respect from, because they know what I can do and I know what they can do. So there’s a mutual respect there. The naysayers and the haters out there – I don’t even pay attention to those guys. I just ignore them.”

The latest chapter in Lashley’s career started in September, when he submitted Josh Burns in his Bellator MMA debut. While Burns isn’t a particularly high-level opponent, Lashley said the win alone on a stage like Bellator was a massive confidence-booster.

“I was happy with my performance against Josh Burns,” Lashley said. “I felt comfortable. That’s the best type of fight you can have, when you feel comfortable, and I felt more and more comfortable as the fight went on. And a fighter that feels comfortable is a dangerous fighter.”

Lashley’s finish of Burns marked his fourth consecutive victory, with all but one coming by submission. Earlier in his career, Lashley was a one-dimensional wrestler whose game plan started and stopped with the takedown. Part of becoming more comfortable is adding new skills, and Lashley feels submissions are now a handy part of his offensive repertoire.

“My instincts for submission grappling are at a whole new level,” Lashley said. “Part of that is patience. Coming from a wrestling background, we have a tendency to grind, to force things and to just go so hard the whole time that we miss a lot of things. That’s what was happening in my early fights. I was just going so hard and trying to grind, and I’d wear myself out and miss some opportunities.

“Of course I’ve been working a lot on my boxing and striking, but at the end of the day, wrestling is what got me to the dance, so I think expanding my submission grappling is a wise move. … It’s going to take me to that level of being able to submit anyone that I can take down. And it’s hard for my opponent to keep me from taking them down, so that’s just going to make me super dangerous.”

After his successful promotional debut, Lashley makes a quick turnaround when he takes on Karl Etherington tonight at Bellator 130. The event takes place at Kansas Star Arena in Mulvane, Kan. Lashley (11-2 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) vs. Etherington (9-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) serves as the co-main event on the Spike TV main card, which follows prelims on MMAjunkie.

Etherington is an undefeated fighter who’s earned all of his career wins by first-round stoppage.

Lashley admits he knows little else about his opponent’s game, but “The Dominator” said he’ll be the one to expose the unknown points of Etherington’s skillset.

“His gas tank is suspect because he’s never made it out of the first round, and he seemed completely exhausted in the first minute or two (of previous fights),” Lashley said. “He has knockout power though – he’s knocked out some guys, and he has submissions too. He’s strong, and he’s going to come right at me, so the first minute or two of the fight will be tough because he’s going to try to finish me quick.”

Lashley said he’s sometimes struggled to stay motivated in the sport. With family and other commitments straying his focus for the past several years, he wasn’t sure he’d get the opportunity to make a career as a pro fighter.

However, the 38-year-old said he’s invested 100 percent of his effort and resources into becoming a success. Whether he fails or succeeds remains to be seen, but regardless, Lashley will know he went to every length imaginable to be at his best.

“My manager was just telling me that I’m ‘Mr. Potential’ right now because I have the potential to do a lot. but whether I act on that potential is up to me,” Lashley said. “I’m going to really live out the potential this time. There are times in my career when I took time off, then came back and then went away again. I’m not doing that this time.

“This time I’m going all out, and when I’m done, I’m done. We’ll see where that potential takes me, and I think it’s going to be real far.”

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