"Yes, we're watching him". Those were the words that Dana White used to answer the question regarding the WWE's other MMA product. Lashley, in contrast to UFC Champion, Brock Lesnar, has fought on relatively small shows. His biggest name fight was his last fight against former K1 star, and all around big dude, Bob Sapp. That was a quick 1 round rout, but Sapp has little skills beyond just pummeling guys, and Lashley isn't much smaller than him. At 6' 3" tall and almost 260 pounds, he might be the closest thing to Brock Lesnar in terms of size and athleticism. He also carries with him an impeccable amateur wrestling record as well where he won 3 national titles at Missouri Valley College.
Lashley could become next year's (fall 2010) consolation prize to the Fedor Emelianenko sweepstakes. Fedor recently signed a 3 fight deal with Strikeforce, and those 3 fights are expected to take him through fall of 2010. The UFC will likely be major players for Fedor's services next year, the same as they were this year. If Brock Lesnar can continue winning against the UFC's top heavyweight talent, the UFC will be pressed hard by fans, and their own need to generate a buzz, to sign Fedor and make the biggest match in MMA history a reality. If Brock however falters, losing the title, the UFC will be after Fedor's services to build the heavyweight division around him. Dana White likes his stars, and having a star that has no one left to fight can be bad for business.
That said, the UFC still has a number of top contenders (Noguiera, Couture, Velasquez, Carwin, Kongo, and a rematch with Mir) so the possibility of Lesnar no longer being the heavyweight champ this time next year certainly is not out of the question. Lesnar has beat Couture and Mir already, and has stated after the second Mir fight that he has no interest in fighting Frank Mir again, explaining that he doesn't want to keep fighting the "same guys". Not sure how he would have felt about that had Mir had the real belt as opposed to the "Interim belt" and turned down a rematch with Lesnar after already beating him once, but I digress.
That would leave Noguiera, who has seemed more interested in the 205 weight class as of late, Velasquez and Carwin will face each other next with the winner getting a shot at Lesnar, and Kongo looked horrible against Velasquez in his last outing, so he may not be a dream matchup. So Lesnar would likely face the winner of the Vleasquez/Carwin match, followed by a potential match with Kongo or Noguiera, or both. That would take him to the free agent period where Lashley and Fedor could become part of the UFC and Lesnar's next round of competition.
Bobby Lashley would be an interesting matchup for Brock. He nearly equals him in size, speed, athleticism, experience, and both have remarkable amateur backgrounds. They are virtual mirror images of each other. The only difference: Lashley is earning his stripes, while Lesnar was handed a title shot against a guy 40 pounds lighter, more that 10 years older, and fresh off an extended retirement period. By the time that fight would happen, it may not matter though, Lesnar does appear to be learning quicker than Lashley, and with the lineup of opponents he faces yet, is likely to be the more prepared fighter next year. Still, Lashley may have something at that time that Lesnar wants and can never get, an undefeated record.
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