Update: Batista not to fight for Strikeforce

Dean820

http://www.prowrestling.net/artman/publish/WWE/article10012552.shtml

Former WWE Champion Batista announced that he's going to fight for Strikeforce. The TMZ cameras caught up with Batista over the weekend and he said he is finished with WWE, and intends to fight for the MMA promotion. "I'm done with WWE," he said.

When asked if he will be fighting for UFC, Batista responded, "Strikeforce." When asked who he will fight, Batista said, "I know, but I'm not telling you." To view the footage, visit TMZ.com.

Powell's POV: This is an incredibly strange decision by Batista, who is starting an MMA career while in his early 40s. He can always go back to WWE, but it would be interesting to see whether a one-sided MMA loss would damage his stock with the company.

Crazy decision to make at this stage of his life but I'm interested on how he gets on...

dlofnep

If he passes a piss test, I'll be impressed. Guy is a roid-monkey and will be beaten by anyone with an ounce of talent. Knowing Strikeforce though, they will probably stick him in with a scrub.

Bob the Seducer

Wonder if Kim Min-Soo is available (if not then there's always Bob Sapp!)

campo

not really confirmed though is it more then likely Batista was taking the P out of TMZ

Dean820

http://pwtorch.com/artman2/publish/MMA_UFC_Coverage_36/article_42088.shtml?mediaKey=f571ba1b-c831-40f0-b6ca-1f8d688b746c&isShareURL=true

Digitalism

He has to be joking... what mma skills does he have, hes really slow, as said hes a roid junkie and would be gassed in 1 round. Dont believe it myself.

geeky

Comedy gold if true. This guy could be the anti-Lesnar.

waltersobchak

Wonder if he tear his biceps before his first fight?:pac::pac:

Dean820

I've read he has lost massive amounts of weight since leaving WWE. Maybe he's off the juice.

Mr. Guappa

Didn't Booker T supposedly have the better of their real-life fight a few years ago. I hope for Batistas own sake that he is taking the p*ss.

Handsome Bob

Um, is Batista actually skilled in any fighting styles?

Jolt2007

Him v Herschel Walker or Kimbo would be perfectly cromulent fights that'd draw monster ratings. If it gets him back on my screen then great.

dlofnep

Dean820 wrote: »

I've read he has lost massive amounts of weight since leaving WWE. Maybe he's off the juice.

We saw what that did for Seán O'Haire

He'l get destroyed. He'l probably fight Tim Sylvia or someone else thats in the twilight of their career. He'l either be KO'ed or Submitted in the first round. I bet he has no cardio and it's a bit disrespectful to the sport of MMA to just jump in and think you'd be ready for a pro fight. Hope he goes against Kimbo, Sylvia or Arlovski. He'd be destroyed by most heavyweights.

chordtype

I predict any opponent will win by massive muscle tear in the first round.

glenjamin

Early this morning, TMZ.com posted a video in which former WWE star Dave Batista says he'll soon be fighting in mixed martial arts for Strikeforce.

It's not true.

Strikeforce director of communications Mike Afromowitz told MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani that the organization has not signed Batista.

The 41-year-old Batista recently quit pro wrestling after a multi-year tenure in the WWE during which he was one of the organization's most popular performers.



Share Adding to the believability of the rumor, Batista was seen attending last week's Strikeforce event in Los Angeles. In addition, earlier this year, Affliction released a video of him training at their workout center. However, a jump to major MMA seems an unlikely one for him. Though he has reportedly trained a bit in the past, he does not have any martial arts base to draw on as some other late career changers like current UFC champ Brock Lesnar have.

Lesnar, like Batista, was once a big WWE star before transitioning to MMA, though Lesnar was an accomplished amateur wrestler, capturing the NCAA heavyweight championship before trying his hand at pro wrestling.

Batista may have just been fooling around with the TMZ cameras, as evidenced by his reaction when asked if he would fight Russian legend Fedor Emelianenko.

"I want nothing to do with that dude," he said with a laugh.

http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/06/21/wwe-star-batista-hasnt-signed-with-strikeforce/

Much more reliable site than TMZ!

Gerard.C

Imagine if he gave Fedor the Batista Bomb

Fozzy

The Observer site says that he is training in MMA and has an offer on the table from some other promotion to fight but he hasn't accepted it yet and his focus appears to be more on acting than fighting

I remember a video a couple of years ago of him doing muay thai training, he could hit the bags fairly hard! It's not like it's something that he's just latched onto recently, but I wouldn't expect much from him if he ever did fight

JP Liz V1

Dean820 wrote: »

I've read he has lost massive amounts of weight since leaving WWE. Maybe he's off the juice.

Any pictures?

Digitalism

dlofnep wrote: »

We saw what that did for Seán O'Haire

What happened him??

I remember a video a couple of years ago of him doing muay thai training, he could hit the bags fairly hard! It's not like it's something that he's just latched onto recently, but I wouldn't expect much from him if he ever did fight

I just cant picture batista, in what he looked like when I last saw him in WWE, like being on his back and doing a fast reversal or getting out of full mount, I just cant picture it. I dont think hes naturally big like Lesnar either, whos just a beast.

Its all well and good hitting bags very hard, but I say he throws a VERY slow punch and kick.

The Bull

WWE Legend Rips Batista -- He'll Get Killed in MMA


Batista may have left the WWE, but his most hated rival is still talking trash -- claiming the former heavyweight wrestling champ is gonna get crushed when Batista starts fighting for real in MMA.

TMZ spoke with WWE legend Booker T. -- who famously clashed with Batista in a real-life throwdown in '06 -- and Booker tells us he doesn't think Batista can "match up" with some of the big boys in Strikeforce.

In fact, Booker claims the 40-something-year-old wouldn't "last 5 minutes" in the ring with another WWE-star-turned-MMA-powerhouse -- Bobby Lashley.

As we first reported, Batista claims the wheels may already be in motion for his first fight ... no word if he'll get in the ring with Lashley.

http://www.tmz.com/2010/06/21/booker-t-batista-bobby-lashley-mma-strikeforce/

Booker weights in with his comments

geeky

The Bull wrote: »

http://www.tmz.com/2010/06/21/booker-t-batista-bobby-lashley-mma-strikeforce/

Booker weights in with his comments

He speaks the truth, sukka.

The Bull

Batista's MMA Deal Hits Big, Green Speed Bump


Former WWE champ Batista may have jumped the gun when he told us he was joining the Strikeforce MMA league -- TMZ has learned dude hasn't signed a contract .. and the holdup is cold, hard cash.

Sources involved in the negotiations tell TMZ, Batista and Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker have already hammered out most of the details in their contract -- but Batista's salary is still a major sticking point.

Coker and the former WWE star are also stuck on scheduling issues -- because according to sources close to the fighter, Batista's calendar has been jam-packed with TV and movie deals since his wrestling contract expired.

We're also told Batista's camp is pissed off over Booker T.'s comments yesterday that Batista would get beat down by fellow WWE-star-turned-MMA-fighter Bobby Lashley ... telling us Batista will fight anyone, Lashley included.

Hopefully, we'll get to see for ourselves ... if Batista can ever work out a deal.

http://www.tmz.com/2010/06/22/batista-mma-wwe-strikeforce-salary-money-deal/

Diabhal Beag

Big Dave would have less of a chance of beating Fedor than I do. But then again I have sick Iron Claw

Savage Tyrant

He wouldn't win an MMA fight with a steel chair or HHH's sledgehammer.

JP Liz V1

Source

TMZ.com has posted the first action photos of former WWE Champion Batista doing some full-contact sparring in preparation for his transition into the world of mixed martial arts. According to the story, there are rumblings that he could fight fellow former WWE performer Bobby Lashley.
Batista has been in San Francisco training with Cesar Gracie, who has trained numerous top fighters. TMZ cites sources as saying the former WWE star is moving closing on a finalizing contract to get in the ring by "early next year."

Handsome Bob

That would be a sideshow that would be derided, the anti-pro wrestling MMA brigade would have a field day with that one. Just forget about it lads and save yourselves the embarassment of being part of such a fight.

Podge2k7

tmz.com wrote:

Batista has been in San Francisco training with MMA legend Cesar Gracie -- and sources close to the fighter tell us Batista is moving significantly closer to finalizing his contract to finally get in the ring by "early next year."

As we previously reported, Batista is trying to work out a deal with Strikeforce and there are rumblings that he could fight his former WWE foe Bobby Lashley.

I reckon Dave will be a disaster in mma, but seeing him face Lashley could be interesting.

Vince135792003

At 41, he's made his money and is clearly looking for a new challenge. If he does it, I wish him all the best. It takes guts to do something out of your comfort zone particularly in a public way.

Digitalism

No I actually dont wish him the best. I have a feeling he thinks he will be a good MMA fighter and be pretty dominant, and doesnt think most fighters will challenge him due to his "size", but he will get a wake up call when he gassess in 1 round and gets subbed.

He needs to understand, hes NOT brock lesnar!

He needs to loose alot of muscle and become very fit to have any chance. its all well and good posing for a camera with a guy in a rear naked choke, its the problem of getting him there in actual fight :pac:

I will cringe when he does fight, as I see him being way too slow and getting tagged far too easily leading to a TKO, KO or a knock down then subbed.

helimachoptor

The next Ken Shamrock, will be painful to watch.

chordtype

Digitalism wrote: »

No I actually dont wish him the best. I have a feeling he thinks he will be a good MMA fighter and be pretty dominant, and doesnt think most fighters will challenge him due to his "size", but he will get a wake up call when he gassess in 1 round and gets subbed.

He needs to understand, hes NOT brock lesnar!

He needs to loose alot of muscle and become very fit to have any chance. its all well and good posing for a camera with a guy in a rear naked choke, its the problem of getting him there in actual fight :pac:

I will cringe when he does fight, as I see him being way too slow and getting tagged far too easily leading to a TKO, KO or a knock down then subbed.

In fairness to Big Dave I reckon he knows that he's no Brock Lesnar. He doesn't have a prolific background in any martial art or even in amateur wrestling. He'll still draw a pretty decent rating for Strikeforce taking on the Bobby Lashleys and Hershal Walkers of this world.

To fight at Heavyweight he'll have to drop to below 265 as his natural weight. A guy like Big Dave should not be cutting that much weight before a fight so that he can go in heavy. His body size and his lack of experience in cutting weight would destroy him. Realistically I don't see him fighting any of the top level Strikeforce heavyweights any time soon.

The next Ken Shamrock, will be painful to watch.

I'd say it'll be different from watching Shamrock fight. It could still be painful but it wont be as sad. Ken is old and broken and looks like he's spent every minute of his 44 years getting beat up. He's basically fighting because he's broke. He's fighting fights that he has no chance of winning. Batista will probably have 2 or 3 fights against guys who are along his level of experience and get paid handsomely.