COCONUT CREEK – Bobby Lashley sees the look on people’s faces when he tells them he wants to win mixed martial arts titles.

The strapping hulk of a man can hear it in their voices when he is mentioned in the same sentence as World Wrestling Entertainment and Kimbo Slice.

“Those are the people who don’t know me, what I’m about or where I come from,” said Lashley between two-a-day workouts at American Top Team.

At 32, Lashley is preparing to make his heavyweight pro debut Saturday night on the Mixed Fighting Alliance “There Will Be Blood” card at AmericanAirlines Arena. He will fight Joshua Franklin, a 30-year-old fighter also making his pro debut.

The former WWE fan favorite is part of a growing trend of wrestlers who hope to make it as professional fighters, including UFC champion Brock Lesnar, who recently knocked off legend Randy Couture.

“It wasn’t only about the money in the WWE, I enjoyed the crowds,” Lashley said. “I was in WrestleMania representing Donald Trump [in 2007] in front of 85,000 people [at Ford Field in Detroit]. It was crazy.

“I know what people are saying. I think I lost some of my credibility as a fighter, wrestler and competitor being in the WWE. I know I have a lot to lose.”

Lashley knows what he’s up against in the mixed martial arts world. Every day he looks around on the mats, the cage and boxing ring at ATT and sees some of the world’s best fighters well-versed in wrestling, submissions and striking.

However, since the UFC began 15 years ago, athletes with strong wrestling backgrounds have been successful. In the 1990s top amateur wrestlers Mark Coleman, Don Frye, Kevin Randleman, Dan Severn and Couture have all fought their way to the top for titles in the UFC, where top stars now command millions for fights and endorsement deals.

What the skeptics don’t know about Lashley is that before the WWE he was an accomplished wrestler for 18 years with Olympic aspirations. He chose the WWE “because I needed the money at the time and didn’t know if the opportunity would ever present itself again.”

Born in Junction City, Kan., the four-time All-American won three national wrestling titles (1996-98) for Missouri Valley College. He then joined the Army, where he continued to wrestle, and won a silver medal at the World Games, which set him up as an Olympic hopeful.

In 2003, Lashley was still wrestling and trying to make a transition into mixed martial arts when he was injured during a bank robbery in Colorado Springs, Colo., where he lived and hoped to train for the 2004 Olympic trials.

“I was going to the bank to put some money in and it got robbed,” Lashley said. “During the robbery I took a dive from a bullet that was shot at the back of my head. I busted my knee wide open and it ended my amateur wrestling career. It turned out to be my calling at the time.”

While rehabbing after a second surgery, the WWE came knocking “because I was big and they liked my look [6 feet 3 and 255 pounds of muscle] and athletic ability.” He signed with the WWE in November 2003 and moved into “pro wrestling and entertainment.” He was released on good terms in January.

“The WWE signed me right away and it kept me in great shape for mixed martial arts, which was always in the back of my mind,” Lashley said. “I knew I would always have an opportunity to come back and compete someday, even though people discredit what I did before the WWE.”

Along with opportunity came sacrifices. He moved to South Florida to train and build a new resume. His children, Kyra, 4, and 4-month-old son Myles live in Parker, Colo., where he visited for Thanksgiving before resuming training.

“That’s the tough part, but it’s what I have to do to get to that next step, ” Lashley said. “I am going to prove myself. I want to show people what I can do. This is where I want to be right now, without a doubt.”

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Former WWE star Bobby Lashley makes MMA debut

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- Current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar will be returning to his roots as he is scheduled to make an appearance at an Ohio Valley Wrestling show in Louisville, Kentucky on Wednesday, January 7, 2009. He will be doing a special autograph meet & greet during his return to the Davis Arena. Ticket prices are $30 in advance and $40 the day of the event. In 2000, after ending college, Lesnar signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment and Lesnar was sent to its developmental territory at the time, Ohio Valley Wrestling. There, he groomed his wrestling skills, which led to him getting called up to the main roster and winning the WWE Championship on three occasions.

- Matches advertised for upcoming RAW and ECW live events include John Cena vs. Chris Jericho for the World Heavyweight Title, Matt Hardy vs. Jack Swagger for the ECW Title, CM Punk vs. William Regal for the Intercontinental Title and Rey Mysterio & Shawn Michaels vs. Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Manu in a 2-on-3 Handicap match.

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Lesnar Returns to OVW, Caras-WWE Update, Big RAW 2-on-3 Advertised, More

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All five victories by No. 1 Iowa in contested matches, and a forfeit at 184, generated bonus points as well as the Hawkeyes’ 33rd consecutive victory over the Panthers.

Charlie Falck and Jay Borschel got pins, Brent Metcalf won by technical fall and Alex Tsirtsis and Dan Dennis won by major decision.

But the Hawkeyes won’t escape the wrath of coach Tom Brands and his staff.

“Did we lose four matches? That’s unacceptable,” Brands said. “It comes down to not technique, it comes down to not even skills because we are very skilled. Really, it comes down to toughness, and that’s probably the biggest ingredient we need to go to work on. It’s a concern and it’s happened more than once.”

Heavyweight Dan Erekson dropped the opening bout, a 6-2 decision by Christian Brantley, after Erekson’s second injury time out gave Brantley his choice of top or bottom in the second period. Brantley escaped to tie the match, starting a run of five unanswered points.

Matt Ballweg at 157 didn’t have enough to make Northern Iowa’s Tyson Reiner stop charging in an 8-2 loss.

“We’re not making the other guy blink,” Brands said. “You’ve got to make the other guy blink, and when he blinks, you hammer him and put him down. That’s what (Reiner) was doing to us. He made us blink and it turned the match around.”

Iowa’s Ryan Morningstar surprised No. 2 Moza Fay with a double-leg takedown with 13 seconds left in the first period, but Fay got an escape and what proved to be the winning takedown in the second period. Later he fought off Morningstar’s takedown bid in the final 25 seconds for the 3-2 win.

“I worked on that exact same position with my coach, and it turned out just the way I wanted it to,” Fay said, adding that Morningstar’s early shot surprised him.

The winning move came out of a scramble.

“Sometimes when somebody blows in on a really good shot, I can counter my way out of it,” Fay said. “I kind of found one of his weaknesses and I capitalized on it.”

After the heavyweight bout opened the evening in Northern Iowa’s favor, a frenzy of takedowns put a temporary stop to the one-sidedness.

Iowa held a 25-1 advantage in takedowns after five bouts.

Hwt-Christian Brantley (NI) beat Dan Erekson, 6-2; 125-Charlie Falck (I) pinned Caleb Flores, 4:07; 133-Dan Dennis (I) beat Josh Baldridge, 17-7; 141-Alex Tsirtsis (I) beat Trent Washington, 14-2; 149-Brent Metcalf (I) won by technical fall over Charlie Ettelson, 24-9, 6:25; 157-Tyson Reiner (NI) beat Matt Ballweg, 8-2; 165-Moza Fay (NI) beat Ryan Morningstar, 3-2; 174-Jay Borschel (I) pinned Jarion Beets, 4:10; 184-Phil Keddy (I) won by forfeit; 197-Andrew Anderson (NI) beat Rick Loera, 10-5.

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Wrestling: Hawkeyes handle Panthers

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Justin Heller of Chestnut Hill Academy and David Irwin of Upper Perkiomen advanced yesterday at 112 pounds, Pat Owens of Germantown Academy moved on at 119 pounds, Alex Pelliciotti of Boyertown advanced at 125 pounds, Andrew Grabfelder of Germantown Academy advanced at 130 pounds, Jonathan Weibel of Quakertown moved on at 152 pounds and Andre Petroski of Springfield (Delaware County) moved on at 171 pounds.

Viking Duals. Kevin Laurinaitis became just the second wrestler in Central Bucks East history to win 100 bouts and helped his team take the tournament title with three victories at Perkiomen Valley.

Competing at 135 pounds, Laurinaitis reached the milestone with a 16-8 decision in the Patriots’ 61-16 win over Allentown Dieruff. His career mark is now 101 wins.

East also beat Mahanoy Area, 61-9, downed North Penn, 44-19, and Allentown Central Catholic, 62-12.

Tony Lozzi picked up five wins at heavyweight to lead North Penn to a third-place finish.

Lozzi earned a 3-0 decision in a 36-28 win over the host Vikings, grabbed a pin in 2:33 against East, pinned in 1 minute in a 41-25 loss to Allentown Central Catholic, got a 2-1 decision in a 39-29 win over Allentown Dieruff and got a forfeit win in a 62-18 win over Mahanoy Area.

Warwick Tournament. In Lititz, Pa., North Catholic had seven individual champions to take the team title with 254 points.

The Falcons’ champions were David Davidson (112 pounds), T.J. Van Horn (130), Shane Rand (135), Matt Dugan (140), Mike Nugent (145), Kevin Mallon (152) and heavyweight Eric French.

Travis Manion Memorial Tournament. Neil Willis of Malvern Prep pinned in the title match at 160 pounds and was named the outstanding wrestler at La Salle.

The host Explorers scored 193.5 points to take the team title. The tournament was named after Manion, a former La Salle wrestler, who was killed in Iraq earlier this year.

Willis earned his crown by pinning Tyler Cunningham of Haddon Township (N.J.) in 1:52.

Washington Duals. Ken Richmond earned three pins at 135 pounds for Northeast, but the Vikings won just one of three matches.

Richmond pinned in 3:23 as Northeast beat Cardinal Dougherty, 58-12, pinned in 3:16 in a 56-24 loss to St. Joseph’s Prep and pinned in 1:40 in a 57-24 loss to Father Judge.

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Pa. Boys | Seven area wrestlers advance in Beast of the East tourney

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