What MMA fans want to see for the sport seems to differ from country to country. Of course everyone wants exciting fights, finishes and real drama but the way this is presented and delivered seems subject to cultural preference. No matter where you go in this world however, the spectacle of seeing two very large men punch each other is always appealing. Heavyweights were the biggest draw for many years in boxing, and still continues to be arguably the most profitable division. In Japan, freakshow MMA is still just as popular as it always has been. It seems like the magnetic draw of the heavyweights is being used as pulling power for a new MMA audience over in India as Super Fight League continue to headline their events with very large men punching each other. This time we’ll see James Thompson face off against the rumoured future opponent for Fedor, Bobby Lashley along with Trevor Prangley vs Baga Agaev, former WEC champion Doug “The Rhino” Marshall vs Zelg Galesic and Lena Ovichynnikova vs IKF European flyweight Muay Thai champion Joanne Calderwood. Via the miracle known as a press release, SFL CEO Ken Pavia had this to say:
“We have had such success with HW Main Events we decided to sign former WWE champ Lashley to face our SFL winner in Thompson. With two guys this big and strong this fight could end with the blink of an eye. We are very excited to have what we expect to be very competitive stand up affairs in the two other non Indian fights. The WEC champ in Rhino v The Cage Rage Champ in Galesic in one fight and Russian super prospect Baga against battle tested Prangley, a former champ in four major organizations in the other. We are also looking forward to seeing Lena back in action after her show stealing performance in our first event and she isn’t getting an easy fight as we are bringing in a world class striker in Calderwood to test her.”
The above mentioned fights, along with domestic match-ups will be on the Super Fight League 3 card which takes place in New Delhi, India and will be streamed, as always for free on youtube.com/sfl. What does this do to Lashley’s rumoured bout with Fedor in Russia? Will we see the dreaded double leg of doom from James Thompson? We’ll have to wait ’till Sunday, May 6th to find out.
