"I'm not going to take anything away from Ken. I have a lot of people telling me I'm going to crush him; that ain't the case man. When you have a guy that has been fighting for as long as he has, he knows every trick in the book. Quite honestly, for him to take this fight says a lot because I wouldn't fight me right now, but he has all of these tricks up his sleeve and I'm sure he will be pulling them out," stated MMA heavyweight Bobby Lashley as he talked about his upcoming clash with Ken Shamrock on the "March Badness" card promoted by Roy Jones Jr. Check out what else he had to say about the fight, a future clash with Brock Lesnar and much more.
PC: How has camp been for your upcoming fight against Ken Shamrock?
BL: I'm just getting out of practice now. I've been training all day. Things are going good though. I'm feeling super healthy right now and I'm in super shape and that's all you can hope for going into a fight; being healthy and confident. I have both of those things going for me right now so that's a good thing.
PC: You're a big boy man. Are you one of those guys that have to cut weight to make 265?
BL: No, I walk around at about 255.
PC: Now that you have a fight under your belt, how different is your approach for this one as opposed to when you really didn't know what to expect?
BL: I think it's a lot different. I think the main thing is the hype for this fight. I'm not going to take anything away from Ken. I have a lot of people telling me I'm going to crush him; that ain't the case man. When you have a guy that has been fighting for as long as he has, he knows every trick in the book. Quite honestly, for him to take this fight says a lot because I wouldn't fight me right now, but he has all of these tricks up his sleeve and I'm sure he will be pulling them out.
PC: He does have a lot of tricks; the main tricks being his slick knee bars and ankle locks. Are you going to be willing to go to the ground with him or will you use your size and reach and utilize your striking skills?
BL: No, I'm going straight to the ground man (laughing)!
PC: How important was it for you to get with a camp like ATT when you made the transition from the WWE?
BL: It was important for many different reasons. When I go into things, I like to go in full force, but I like to go in and earn the respect from the masses and the millions that follow MMA. In order to earn the respect, you have to go to a respectable camp. I think it's only a handful of them out there. There is AKA out in San Jose, Jackson's camp, American Top Team and then a handful of other ones like Miletich and Couture's. So if you're going to come into MMA like I came into it, you have to go to a respectable camp so people won't feel like I'm just going to use my name and the fame that I got from somewhere else and expect a whole bunch in MMA. I say respect me for what I'm doing and going through this camp. I live in Denver and I have kids in Denver and I fly out here to Fort Lauderdale to Coconut Creek and I train down here. I stay in a hotel by myself away from my family to train for this so if that's not enough indication for these people, then I really don't care what they think man.
PC: You're fighting on a card that will combine boxing and MMA. Are you a fan of both and, moreso, are you a Roy Jones fan?
BL: Man, I am an old school Roy Jones fan man. I don't want to say old school because Roy Jones isn't really old school. I'm a huge Roy Jones fan. I used to watch him box back in the day when he was crushing everybody. I like his personality and the entertainment side of what he does. He was the one that had millions watching before anybody did. It's an honor to be on his card.
PC: We're seeing a lot of college wrestlers make the transition to MMA with success. How do you fit in and how far do you think you can go in this sport?
BL: I think I can go to the top man. I'm telling you because there are a lot of college wrestlers out there, but a lot of them are one-dimensional, meaning that they could wrestle incredibly, but as far as overall athleticism, they lack that. You see that a lot where these guys have great takedowns and takedown defense, but when you start making them move around and throw strikes, well, now you're bringing them into a whole different world because to be a boxer, kickboxer or Muay Thai fighter, you have to be athletic. You have to be able to move-strike, move-strike and some of them are a little flat-footed and not athletic enough. But there are a handful of them out there that have a solid wrestling background, which is a strong foundation, and have made the transition well. Guys like Mike Brown, Muhammad Lawal, Cain Velasquez and Brock, and those are the guys that made that transition. I'm incredibly athletic. I don't want to pat myself on the back, but that's one of the things that I pride myself on, from the days of wrestling, jumping up and doing the splits over guys head. I have a great deal of athleticism.
PC: How much did the WWE prepare you for the transition as far as dealing with the huge crowds so it wouldn't feel like such a new thing?
BL: That's a really good point. I think professional wrestling, and I know some people are bitter about the wrestling thing, but I tell you what, wrestling made Bobby Lashley. It's made me who I am right now. I'm going through these emotions and I'm like, "I'm not just an MMA fighter coming in here. I'm bringing an actual crowd." A lot of professional wrestling fans want to see what Bobby Lashley has. In the same token, to fight in front of eighty-five thousand people at Wrestlemainia and ten to twenty thousand on a regular basis, wrestling has prepared me for that to a point where I get out there and I embrace that. I take the energy I feel from the crowd and I take that and use that. The hype is already going to be there, but when the crowd starts to get into it, I just suck up all of that energy from the crowd and I just let that out in my fights. It's prepared me for the real world.
PC: People are already buzzing about a possible fight between you and Brock Lesnar. By no means am I overlooking Ken, but how many fights do you think you are away from fighting someone like Lesnar?
BL: I hope Brock continues to win, that's one thing. I would want to have that fight for the title. I don't want to jump the gun and say, "Yes, I'm ready to fight him." I want to be a complete fighter. I think with the coaches that I have, the training and the training partners that I have, I think within the year I'm going to be ready to pull those big fights down. And then I think when Brock comes, I'm going to be 100% ready for that big clash of the titans.
PC: I look forward to your fight. Thanks for your time and good luck my man. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
BL: Tell everybody to come check it out man. This is another test for me and everybody is wondering what I'm going to do. If you want to know what I'm going to do or how I've been training or what I'm all about, tune in because I am going to be going all out. You're going to see somebody fall because I'm going to be going all out for this one.
[ Follow Percy Crawford on Twitter @MrLouis1ana ]