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[kickass32]

Scott Coker: Bobby Lashley vs. Dave Bautista 'Should Happen' -- MMA Fighting

Scott Coker: Bobby Lashley vs. Dave Bautista 'Should Happen'
10/08/2010 9:30 AM ET By Ariel Helwani


Ariel Helwani
Video Reporter and Writer
It appears as though Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker is still holding out hope that he can put together the battle of former pro wrestling stars – Dave Bautista vs. Bobby Lashley – inside the Strikeforce cage.

On Monday's episode of The MMA Hour, Coker said that the organization is still in contact with Bautista, and if both sides do ever agree on a deal, you can expect one of Bautista's first fights to be against Lashley.

"I know there's ongoing dialogue between [Strikeforce matchmaker] Rich [Chou] and Bautista, and they are trying to come to an agreement of the minds, but right now Bautista has a couple of movie offers and it's just tying up his time. Let's see where it goes from there," Coker said.

"I think that fight should happen. If we sign Bautista, why not make that fight?"

At this point, it remains to be seen whether Bautista's flirtation with MMA is nothing more than just that. We know he once told TMZ he was close to signing with Strikeforce and he has been seen training at Cesar Gracie's gym, but he wouldn't be the first pro wrestling star (see: Angle, Kurt) to sound eager to fight, only to never actually do it.

Throw in the fact that the 41-year-old reportedly told MMA Payout's Jose Mendez that he "will not be doing MMA/Strikeforce any time soon," and it seems like, for one reason or another, he has put his MMA aspirations on hold.

And what about Lashley? After his disappointing performance against Chad Griggs in August, it was unclear when or if we would ever see him fight again.

The former WWE and TNA wrestler actually returned to the sports entertainment world last month in Japan, leading to some speculation that he was going to start concentrating more on wrestling.

But Coker believes we haven't seen the last of Lashley in MMA, he just may have to work his way back up to the big show.

"The thing with Bobby is, he's a great athlete, he wants to be an MMA fighter, I mean, he is an MMA fighter, don't get me wrong, but he wants to be at that elite level where he can fight the top guys in the world. But after Chad, he's going to probably have to take, not a step back, but I would recommend to him to go to Challengers, fight three or four fights, and work your way back up."

Does that mean we could see Bautista vs. Lashley on a Strikeforce: Challengers card on Showtime? Don't count it, which is the same answer you would hear if you were to ask me whether we'll ever see the Bautista vs. Lashley in Strikeforce in the near future.

Why???

[mma #1 fan]

He is right it just should happen in wwe

[BBG]

Has anyone checked to see if he (coker) has history of mental illness? Sometimes it seems like he is trying to take a step forward and then all of a sudden this shit. This is the kind of shit RH should detest from a promotion. It does NOTHING to promote the sport. It only put armchair rasslin fans in front of the tube. Damn this is more of a circus then I thought.

[iced]

lolz. coker needs to lay off the coke.

this guy is going to sink sf

[The Return Of......]

100% agree that its a shit fight that no MMA fan wants to see.

that being said........................................Strike force is hurting and could use some attention and it would probably draw a huge WWF fan base if they put it on free tv and generate high ratings.

at some point and time strikeforce is going to have to try something to get out of the rut they are in. they have some solid fighters but if they are really going to be a player in the fight game they should be further ahead than they are now

[kickass32]

Originally Posted by The Return Of......

100% agree that its a shit fight that no MMA fan wants to see.

that being said........................................Strike force is hurting and could use some attention and it would probably draw a huge WWF fan base if they put it on free tv and generate high ratings.

at some point and time strikeforce is going to have to try something to get out of the rut they are in. they have some solid fighters but if they are really going to be a player in the fight game they should be further ahead than they are now

I agree, it'll be a pretty big draw, and if on free tv, I'll even watch, but man this does nothing for Lashley, and the sport of MMA.

[Pasha K]

And why it should not happen? They are both cans, so the match makes sense.
Well seriously, I dislike Coker more and more everytime, all his announcements only makes him and his organization look like a joke.
He has 5 or 6 great HWs and he says no word about them, but he talks about fucking Batista with zero martial arts background and Lashley that other than wrestling cant do a shit.

So valentijn Overeem vs Big Foot wont happen. Fedor, Werdum, Alistair, Kharitonov, Arlovksy, Barnett etc. are not fighting anytime soon, and when are they going to fight? Coker has no any fucking idea. Oh but despite all this shit he happily says "Lashley vs Batista should happen"

I dont know what will happen with SF, I know that they have not been 15 years in business, but it is not their first year either, and they are acting like amateurs. They make only 5-6 cards a year, some cards are exciting, others (like the December 4th so far) are awful. They have arguably the best HW roster in MMA (even better than the HW UFC roster who is the most stacked in the history of that promotion) and they dont have any idea of what to do with them.

So Overeem says "Fuck you, I will fight for K1 and Dream, if one day I have the desire to fight for you I will call you, but I dont give a shit about you or your championhsip" and Coker answers him "Ok buddy, no problem, do whatever you want"

They can never come to an agreement with M1 Global.

They dont know what to do with the other HWs, oh but however Coker knows one thing: Its extremely important to hire extra security guards for the Nick Diaz vs KJ Noons fight LOOOL

I cant understand how SF is still in business after all the bullshit they do.

[LethalStriker]

As much as I don't want to see a Batista vs. Bobby Lashley fight, if SF is ever going to do it this would be the time to do it. With Lashley coming off of a loss, if he was still undefeated the fight wouldn't have made as much sense.

[MickeyKnox]

Oh gee! Oh YES! Oh man-oh-man! Lashley VS Batista in an MMA match?! THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST FIGHT EVER IN THE HISTORY OF ALL MMA!! There is NO WAY this is really going to happen?! Ommfg. No way.

We should all be so thankful and appreciative to Scott Coker and Strikeforce for making SUCH a legendary matchup that will forever be imbedded in the hearts of all audiences lucky enough to lay eyes on such a spectacular display of true martial art skills and utter dominance that no other men in the world could dream of unleashing upon our unworthy memories.

I am utterly speechless and absolutely blown away by the sheer superiority and matureness of Strikeforce, and the fact they have the cajones to put on this unthinkable arrangement of two of the most prestigious, remorseless, savage beasts of men inside of a cage. Oh the inhumanity! If you are a hardcore MMA fan, you should appreciate the fact you breath the breath of life in order to witness this event, as it will forever be burned in our history as the greatest battle of all time. Whoever is victorious should be crowned as G.O.A.T. and shall be worshipped by all aspiring martial artists.


...(Absolute sarcasm in the greatest. Fucking fools.)

[Renny]

id much rather undertaker fight kane....