At Friday night’s Bellator 130 event, TNA World Champion Bobby Lashley (11-2)
faced off with Karl Etherington (9-0) in a heavyweight bout. Going into the
fight, Lashley had gone 4-0 since 2013, while Etherington has won all of his
fights in the first round.
For the second straight fight, Lashley was not
sponsored by TNA.
Lashley got hit with a low blow early, but was able to
continue. The fighters would clinch up, and a slip by Etherington as he went for
a throw was the end for him. Lashley immediately attacked from the back, and
landed with the ground and pound to secure the quick victory. The official
decision was Bobby Lashley via RD 1 (1:31) submission due to
strikes.
Lashley moves to 12-2 in MMA, and 2-0 in Bellator. The
heavyweight division is not exactly stacked in Bellator, so Lashley could move
into a heavyweight title fight. If not, James Thompson is under contract to
Bellator. He is 20-14 in MMA, and holds a victory over Lashley.
Vitaly
Minakov (14-0) is the current Bellator Heavyweight Champion. He is 5-0 in
Bellator, and won the title in November of 2013 from Alexander Volkov via KO. He
has one title defense, which was a five round unanimous decision victory over
Cheick Kongo.
