By Bryan Levick 
Last night on HDNET’s Inside MMA, Strikeforce heavyweight Bobby Lashley called out both Fedor Emelianenko and Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem.
Lashley doesn’t have a preference for either man, just whomever is holding the heavyweight belt.
MMA Fighting has a clip of the show in which the hosts Bas Rutten and Kenny Rice go over the results of a poll conducted by the team of Inside MMA and MMA Junkie.
Lashley seemed to be offended and questioned why they would want him to fight Brett Rogers. Here is what he had to say:
“I don’t understand this,” Lashley said. “Brett Rogers isn’t the champ. You’ve got Fedor [Emelianenko] who is considered the best pound-for-pound fighter and you’ve got [Alistair] Overeem who’s the champ. If they want me to go up to that level let’s go all the way up to that level and fight the champ.”
Lashley is coming off a 1st round TKO over former UFC heavyweight contender Wes Sims. The fight marked the debut for Lashley in Strikeforce.
There has been talk of him facing Rogers, most of which came from Strikeforce President Scott Coker during the January 30 post-fight press conference.
Lashley has held firm in his demands, he has said all along that he wants to get another four wins under his belt and then go straight to the top of the mountain.
“I want Overeem,” Lashley said. “Either let me fight the way I want — build up, get a few fights under my belt, work my way up — or let me fight the champ. If it’s fighting the champ I’ll fight the champ.”
From all accounts, Lashley has given up his other job as a wrestler with TNA Wrestling.
That is a positive sign that he is really serious about his MMA Career. He needs to step up to the plate and fight better fighters than Sims, Jason Guida, and Bob Sapp.
If Coker offers him Rogers, how can Lashley turn it down? Rogers is more experienced, and has faced a much higher quality of opponents.
He seems to be biting off a bit more than he can chew by calling out Emelianenko and Overeem, he better be careful, he might just get what he is asking for.
