It might be time to consider Bobby Lashley as a viable contender for the Bellator heavyweight title. The 38-year-old picked up his third-consecutive win since joining the organization against Dan Charles on Bellator 138 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
MMAjunkie tweeted out the official result:
Bellator 138 results: Bobby Lashley def. Dan Charles via TKO (punches) - Round 2, 4:14 http://t.co/HmZcmKoi31
— MMAjunkie (@MMAjunkie) June 20, 2015
Lashley wasted little time getting the bout to his comfort zone. The wrestler simply overpowered Charles early, scoring multiple takedowns. Charles actually did a good job of working back to his feet, but it wasn't long before Lashley would take him for a ride again.
His dominance was enough for Bloody Elbow to score the round 10-8.
Round 1 summary: Think Khabib vs. Trujillo but with a cartoonishly-shaped heavyweight doing it to a guy nicknamed "The Man". 10-8 Lashley.
— Bloody Elbow (@BloodyElbow) June 20, 2015
The second round didn't get much better for Charles. Lashley continued to take him down with regularity while mixing in some suplexes and vicious ground and pound. As the round progressed it became abundantly clear that Charles had nothing for The Dominator and John McCarthy mercifully brought the bout to its conclusion.
The win marks the third-consecutive for Lashley under the Bellator banner and his sixth in a row since losing to James Thompson in May 2012.
Just under two weeks ago this was supposed to be Lashley's shot at redemption. He was originally scheduled to rematch the 36-year-old Thompson before an undisclosed injury forced him out of the fight, per MMAjunkie.
Charles stepped up and took the fight on short notice. With the bout expected to draw a large TV audience thanks to a main event that pits Ken Shamrock against Kimbo Slice, this was an excellent opportunity for him to jump to the forefront of the Bellator heavyweight landscape.
Instead, that bit of momentum was taken by Lashley.
The current TNA and former WWE star seems set on proving he's a legitimate heavyweight threat. At this point, he's not making any bones about wanting to scale the Bellator heavyweight mountain and hold the title. Lashley talked about his dedication to MMA and desire for his future with Zane Simon of Bloody Elbow:
I'd like the Bellator title, you know? My contract is pretty much set, so there's not going to be any swaying as to, 'Okay if I fight this person, then I fight this person...' The fights are going to be the fights. But, the one thing I do kinda want to get after is, there are some bigger names in there and then the title is wide open, especially in the HW division, for somebody to step up and really go after it. So, I'm not going to keep going back and forth, back and forth like I did my entire career. This time I'm really just focusing. That's why I re-signed with Bellator and said, 'Okay, we're going to do a multiple fight deal and we're going to go after it.' I want to set my targets for that title and that's what I'm doing.
Bellator's heavyweight division is an interesting combination of younger prospects and UFC retreads so a plethora of intriguing options lie ahead for the wrestler. The current champion is undefeated 30-year-old Vitaly Minakov.
Lashley might not be as far from a title shot as it might seem with the win. He seems to be open to just about any one at this point and on the Bellator roster that includes former UFC fighters Lavar Johnson and Cheick Kong, former rival James Thompson and American Top Team teammate Slice.
That's not exactly a murderer's row standing between Lashley and the champion.
For a promotion that could use as many recognizable names as possible to compete with the UFC, Lashley being a heavyweight contender is a good thing. With his win over Charles, it appears that good thing will last at least another fight.
