WWE United States Champion Bobby Lashley has been approached about a potential fight against Celebrity WWE Hall of Famer Mike Tyson.
Lashley noted in a new interview with Fightful Select that a “bare knuckle boxing company rep” recently approached him about whether or not he’d consider boxing Tyson.
Lashley noted that this was a feeling out process, and said he’d love to take the fight as it’d be an honor to compete against Tyson. He also said the rep mentioned Madison Square Garden in New York City as the possible venue. There is no word yet on what promotion this would be for, or how serious the talks might be.
On a related note, Lashley said he still hopes and plans to return to the world of MMA for another fight. He revealed that he asked former WWE Chairman & CEO Vince McMahon about possibly fighting for UFC after the recent Money In the Bank event, but the idea was quickly rejected.
There’s also no word yet on if WWE officials would allow Lashley to fight for the UFC now that Vince has retired.
Lashley currently has a professional MMA record of 15 wins and 2 losses. That breaks down to 6 wins by knockout, 6 wins by submission, 3 wins by decision, 1 loss by knockout, and 1 loss by decision. His last fight was a win over Josh Appelt at Bellator 162 on October 21, 2016.
Lashley was still signed to a Bellator MMA contract as of June 2021 while he was the WWE Champion. He noted then that he wasn’t closing the door on his MMA career, and also revealed in June of last year how he has had more talks with the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship promotion. There’s no word yet on if BKFC is who approached him about the Tyson fight. Lashley noted last year that if he did return to the cage, it would have to be for Bellator due to the contract. Lashley made his surprise WWE return in April 2018 and Bellator ran with some of that momentum by quickly releasing a statement to announce that he was still under contract at that time. Lashley revealed in a September 2020 interview that he was in talks with BKFC about a fight, while confirming that he was still signed to an agreement with Bellator.
“I’m fighting until I can’t fight anymore,” Lashley said in September 2020. “I just had a conversation with the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship guy. We discussed going out there and doing a bare knuckle fight. I still have an agreement with Bellator. I always thought I would find my way back to WWE. When I signed my Bellator contract, I had an out clause for the WWE. It said if WWE alone offered me a contract they would relieve me from the Bellator contract. [Bellator MMA President] Scott Coker is an amazing guy. The fact he gave me that contract was just incredible. But since he gave me it, I still have fights with Bellator and can fight with them, which is a really good thing.”
There’s no confirmation on the status of Lashley’s Bellator deal as of now, but it appears he is no longer under contract if he was asking McMahon about possibly fighting for the UFC. Lashley spoke in February of this year about stepping away from MMA due to how challenging some of it was.
Lashley will defend his WWE United States Title against Theory at WWE SummerSlam on Saturday.
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