Bobby Lashley enlists the help of fellow pro-wrestler Josh Barnett to aid him in his development as a mixed martial artist

Powerhouse heavyweight star in the making, Bobby Lashley has revealed he’s been picking the brains of veteran mixed martial artist turned part-time professional wrestler, Josh Barnett when it comes to his own game, explaining it’s been a great help and he hopes he can use it to his advantage later this year.
Speaking via MMAJunkie.com, Lashley said:

“I want to show people that I’ve evolved a little bit. It’s good for me to pull back a little bit. I know I jumped out there a little too fast and a little too hot. I’ve never been in a training camp where I have three months to prepare for a fight. All my training camps have been that I jump over here for two weeks, then I come home, then I jump over here for two weeks, and I spend a month or … two months tops on dialing myself in.”

“We would start out drilling on our feet. Of course, that was my strong suit, so we’d get a lot of drill work in and then go live with takedowns and takedowns to submissions. That was good for me because I would get him with a takedown but he would show me different things on the ground. We drilled a bunch of different series of submissions, and that’s where he took over. It was great.”

“I’m hoping I can take something in late September or early October, and in that fight, I’d like to show people something different than what I’ve always showed them. I’m not going to show them that I can take someone down and ground and pound them. Maybe it will be a submission. Maybe it’s going to be standing with someone.”

Barnett also gave his thoughts on helping out the former WWE Superstar, explaining if Lashley lived up to his potential he’d be finishing the majority of fighters he’d face.

“The pro wrestling world is a pretty solidly knit group. It’s a little bit different from MMA in that there is a certain code of ethics. Even people that really don’t want to obey them will still go to at least the most trivial lengths to uphold it. So you get to know each other pretty well. He should be beating most of these guys in two rounds. So I think it’s just a lost link in the chain.”

“Holy moly, man, the guy’s takedowns are incredible. It’s not just about taking one shot on a guy. He commits, he follows through. He’s got a lot behind him on the mat. It’s hard to stay on your feet with a guy like that. Don’t get me wrong, I made him work for it, trust me. But that’s exactly the kind of reason I want him out here. I don’t have wrestlers to his level very often.”

“We’ll see how it really goes. He’s not just some floating-in-the-wind kind of guy. He has quite a few commitments in his non-fight related life. It’s not as easy as if it was some 22-year-old kid with nothing holding him down. But I think that we can make something work out that will be a really beneficial situation for him.”

Lashley was cut from the Strikeforce roster after coming up short against Chad Griggs last year in one of the biggest upsets of the year. He rebounded with a below-par win over John Ott in March, defeating the undersized heavyweight via unanimous decision. He is expected to return to action on the Titan Fighting Championship 19 card later this year.