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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
Fedor Emelianenko bounced back from three consecutive losses in Strikeforce with wins over Jeff Monson and Satoshi Ishii to close out 2011, and as his management looks to secure his first fight of 2012, there's at least one fighter who has said he's on the list.
Former WWE wrestler and two-time Strikeforce competitor Bobby Lashley spoke with UK based Fighter's Only, and revealed that he's up for a potential fight with "The Last Emperor."
"The guy's got a tremendous amount of fights under his belt... I'd like to fight him,” Lashley said. "I'm going to throw everything at him that I can. Of course, my wrestling's there, I don't give a damn what he's doing. I'd put my wrestling up there with almost anyone right now."
"I think that my wrestling would trump some of the things that he has. I know he's a great fighter, but if I fought him then of course I'm going to try and wrestle him down... If it was Dave [Bautista], I'm standing and banging with him. I've been doing a lot of boxing."
The 35-year-old Lashley won his last fight for Shark Fights in Texas, and in addition to the possibility of a fight with Fedor, a move to Bellator Fighting Championships may be in the cards as well. Knowing his time in the sport may be limited, Lashley is simply wanting to take the best possible fights available, and a fight with Fedor would be chief among them.
"I wanna fight the best, so if I have an opportunity to fight Fedor, let's do it," he said. "If I have an opportunity to fight anyone right now let’s just damn do it."
Penick's Analysis: It's not as crazy a fight as it seems on the surface. Lashley is as good a choice as any Emelianenko is going to find right now outside of the UFC and Strikeforce, and even though his MMA experience and acumen is limited, he's still got a good wrestling game and has some name value as well. He wouldn't be considered much of a challenge for Emelianenko, but it could net him a decent payday and a big fight for him personally.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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