curbritual

Let me preface by saying I did read your entire post, this is just the point I wanted to zero in on, as I've already made it clear to the previous poster that one's been put over on me.

I was actually going to mention in my post that I realize Dana White can change coats at any time and I wouldn't put it past him. I did think it was possible that it Lashley could persay come in at any time perhaps, as I said I wouldn't put it past Dana at a certain point ---- although in this instance I may have actually let him put it past me.

And where I said since Dana's had a handle over things there haven't really been any stars who have made a name in WWE beforehand getting into UFC, it could be argued there really haven't been any guys worthwhile out there for them to pick up. So I'm fine with retracting that.

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This is a throw-down, a showdown. Hell no, I can't slow down.

Rated-RKO-Franklin

I think Lashley has very good wrestling skills. However this man has the worst mic skills I have ever heard in my life. Now certain wrestlers gotten away with bad mic skills such as Chris Benoit and Jeff Hardy. I don't think Lashley will get away with it. If you watch any of Lashley's past WWE videos you can see that he gets good fan reaction in matches but on the mic the fans are not reacting strongly towards him. He needs to improve his mic skills beyond anything anyone has done before for he can connect to the fans on the mic.

No offense to everyone. In my opinon he sounds like a stereotype white person by voice and word choice. The stereotypes that stand up comedians and movies protray.

Dj1223

Why don't you put me in check first. Then we can talk about it.

RaiZ-R

I think signing Bobby Lashley (whether short or long term) will make no difference to TNA. He's been out of WWE too long to have any significant fanbase left over, and he isn't big enough in MMA, having only fought once if I remember correctly, to cause a decent cross-over. He's a decent enough big guy in the ring, and has an amatuer background which is always nice, but his mic skills are terrible, and without a manager he will fail in TNA.

As for his chances in MMA, I've not seen him fight, but I know that Daniel Puder (of Tough Enough fame) speaks highly of him, and I think his amatuer wrestling background will help him a ton... But even now, Lesnar is not the complete package (although he continues to improve with each outing) and it's obvious Dana signed him for his name value, and kept him for his size and power, nothing else. Lashley will have to work much, much harder to be brought into the UFC, and I doubt a win over the washed up Beast, Bob Sapp would impressed Dana White any.

Lashley needs to make a decision though. Does he want to wrestle, or fight?

And who are these two significant fighters you speak of? If it's Tim Slyvia and Andre Arlovski, excuse me if I don't bow down in worship at Fedor's feet. Slyvia is (and always was) a joke of an MMA fighter, who UFC got stuck with as champion and built because they had to. Arlovski was once upon time (I hear) very, very good, but is waaaaaay past his prime, and has been since before he left the UFC.

I'll admit right here that my MMA knowledge is limited. I've never seen Fedor fight, but have heard he's very impressive. I've also heard he fights only those he's willing to, under rules that his manager lays out. That seems grossly unfair, and misleading to me. As for Sylvia and Arlovski, I only know their later UFC handiwork, which was all very disappointing indeed. Even with all the different "circumstances" Fedor and his management work out, neither man is in his league from what I hear. Also, I chose those two as the two men you didn't name cos I've heard tell he faced them at the Affliction events and made the assumption that's who you meant. If not, fair enough, I made an ass out of me, but not you.
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Also, Curbritual... The button at the bottom of each post that look like this: "+ means that you can multi-quote so as not to multi-post. It keeps the forums tidy. It works over pages and once you find the last quote you want just click the Quote button, or the Post Reply button and all your quotes should be there for you.

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Bigpapa42

I'm not trying to derail the thread, and I'm also not saying you should bow down at anyone's feet. But there is a reason that Fedor is respected as the best in the world throughout the MMA world - by other fighters and by many fans. Its because no one else has the career resume that he does. No one. Not sure where you get the idea that his management arranges things in his favor - that's not really the case. They demand certain concessions from the UFC during contract negotiations (being able to compete in Sambo), and that is part of the reason that the UFC and Fedor wouldn't agree a deal. But perhaps before you decided whether or not you should respect him, it might be worthwhile to try to see why he's respected - Youtube is useful.

I only brought up the Fedor example to show that Dana White spins things. The UFC made a serious effort to bring Fedor in, yet when it doesn't happen, White calls Fedor overrated and criticize him for not beating anyone. He then beats the two HWs who dominated the UFC HW division from 2002-2007 and who held the title for most of that period, yet Dana White won't admit to anything. I'm not saying Arlovski and Sylvia are the best (though Arlovsk was the #2 ranked HW heading into that fight), but they are good fighters who would still be near the top of the UFC HW division. I was really just trying to point out that Dana White could come out and say "There is no chance that the UFC will ever sign Bobby Lashley"... and you can be sure that it still could happen someday. White is a promoter. He says what he needs to say to promote his product.

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RaiZ-R

The management information I got was from FSM magazine. According to an article they did Fedor's management go over the rules with the promoters and the judges and so on beforehand to say that Fedor can only lose in certain ways, these concessions not working both ways (for the opponent). I obviously can't speak from personal experiance, but the fact they haven't been sued speaks volumes.

Like I said, my MMA knowledge is criminally under par considering how much I enjoy watching the sport, and don't take anything I said as an attack on you (the bowing at the feet thing was a bit narky, and I apologise for that) but with all the TNA, ROH, WWE and UFC TV I have to watch at the minute, my research into older UFC and other MMA is lagging somewhat. I have no doubt that Fedor is a great fighter. No fighter get that much respect without being able to back it up, I'm just not sure how close to best fighter in the world he still is today.

Anyway, your point about Dana and Lashley is totally correct. White promotes what sells, if Lashley makes a name for himself, he'll get picked up. But not while he's in TNA.

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Bigpapa42

The problem is that a promotion doesn't define the rules, at least when the fight is taking place in the United States. Its the state athletic commission. Its also the athletic commission that supplies the judges. And the athletic commission should be preventing anyone from interfering in those processes and to ensure that every fighter is treated the same.

I'm sure Fedor's management goes over the rules that will be in place for the fight when they agree the deal. It would be stupid not to, as a slight change in rules can mean a big change in approach to both training and gameplan. I have a friend who fights and finding out the rules is nearly as important as finding out his opponent.

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