RingSide Report

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Why Herschel Walker is Ruining Mixed Martial Arts

By Kevin Nelson

In the fight game known as “mix martial arts,” many fighters pay their dues and spit their fair share of blood, sweat and tears.

Buried on undercards until they emerge as legit contenders, and only then do they finally go on to possibly becoming a champion. They risk everything: spending time with family, money, personal life to pursue a dream that nobody sees but themselves.

In the last few years, mix martial arts has had its fair share of wannabe fighters who are being paid well in a sport that they have not paid their dues in. Fighters such as Kimbo Slice, Bob Sapp, Bobby Lashley and now Herschel Walker are ruining the sport and taking up time that should be allotted to up and coming fighters.

What Elitexc did was exploit a street fighter in Kimbo Slice, with a good background and made money off of him.

The downfall was they had good fighters in Robbie Lawler and Nick Diaz that they could have spent time trying to market to the fans. Instead they put all the time promoting a fighter with no experience in mix martial arts and paid him well while the other real legit mix martial artists were paid a fraction of what Kimbo Slice was making.

The result was the folding of a company due to its lack of legitimacy as a company and little understanding of how to make the sport grow.

Now Strikeforce, with the backing of the Showtime network and CBS, have the financial backing and seem doomed to repeat the mistakes that Elitexc has made.

With the signing of 47 year old former NFL running back Herschel Walker and former WWE stars Bobby Lashley and Dave Batista, the message they’re sending to the mix martial arts world is:

The circus is in town.

Now I may seem cynical…I do think that when Brock Lesnar entered MMA that it would be a joke. He has since gone on to win the Heavyweight Title in the UFC. The one thing I overlooked was how important that amateur wrestling pedigree of being a national champion is.

That is why I think that if the former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley were serious about being a mix martial arts he would not be making appearances in TNA or facing tomato can after tomato can then calling out Fedor.

Lashley would go on to lose to a tomato can recently.

What makes this all worse is that Strikeforce Promoter Scott Coker sees nothing wrong with this. He has even suggested an eventual match featuring Bobby Lashley and Dave Batista.

In fairness to Herschel Walker, he has called know one out and has gone about his business in a quiet respectful manner.

But still thinking about seeing him in a fight against a tomato can to build his record up when there are so many young up and coming fighters trying to make a name for themselves in the sport is not right and sends a message that Strikeforce is not yet ready to be mentioned in the same breathe as the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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