There is a lengthy history of pro wrestlers crossing over into MMA. From the nascent days of this sport, professional wrestlers have indulged their desire to go from work to a shoot. In this episodic series, I will review fights where pro wrestlers foray into the combat world. It’s like a weird, violent version of IMDB and I am DB (Dylan Bowker). This is Pro Wrestlers in MMA #1: Bobby Lashley vs Wes Sims.
Pro wrestling superstar Bobby Lashley took on heavyweight MMA veteran Wes Sims at Strikeforce Miami. This titanic tilt went down on January 30th, 2010. This event was bolstered by some huge names like Nick Diaz, Cris Cyborg, Robbie Lawler, and so many more. Lashley vs Sims was a short notice bout but was still causing intrigue as a novelty/ freakshow fight. Sims coming into this bout with close to 50 pro fights. Conversely, Lashley is 4-0 in his MMA run at that time.
Pro Wrestlers In MMA
Sims took the center of the cage early and tried to goad Lashley on. The veteran was pawing out at Lashley’s hands while raising his hand above his head to prompt a reaction. Lashley was able to take Sims to the canvas after the veteran attempted to plow forward with strikes.
Lashley is peppering the propped up head of Sims who is in a can opener. As Lashley ramped up the volume, Sims gave up his back. Eventually, Lashley’s strikes flattened out the more seasoned fighter. Sims flattens out belly down and the bout is waved off in favor of Lashley who gets the finish a bit over two minutes into round one.
I think ultimately this was a slight step up for the former two-time ECW champion/ WWE US champion. That being said, it was a short notice outing to Sims and came in looking noticeably flabby. Perhaps not the most optimally prepared. This was certainly in the twilight of Sims’ career. Subsequently, he would have three more bouts after this outing and called it a career.
Kind of crazy to realize that this was over a decade ago. It seems a far cry from Lashley’s present circumstances where he’s mitigating risk in a global pandemic whilst treading the road to Wrestlemania. I think that there was some classic Scott Coker-style matchmaking at play here and Lashley performed as was expected of him.
Bobby Lashley (vs Wes Sims): 3.7 / 10
