Strikeforce ‘Houston’ Preview

Bobby Lashley vs. Chad Griggs

There isn’t a whole lot to say about the heavyweight tussle pitting Lashley against Griggs other than the fact that Strikeforce is doing right by their hoped-for golden goose. From what we’ve seen of Lashley thus far, he’s not ready to take on Strikeforce’s upper-tier heavyweights. Someone like Griggs is right in his zone.

Besides the fact that Griggs hasn’t fought in a year, he really isn’t a particularly impressive fighter. He can certainly flex with Lashley all day, but in terms of skills he doesn’t have anything to offer against Lashley’s well-known wrestling base. His 8-1 record is more a function of mediocre regional opposition than any otherworldly talent he has hidden underneath his bodybuilder’s physique.

The other aspect of this fight to keep in mind is that Griggs is basically a static quantity as a fighter while Lashley is at least surrounding himself with the right people to improve. While the actual ceiling on Lashley’s potential is open to debate, he can get most any lower-tier heavyweight on the mat and get his mangle on. Given the struggles that supposed next generation heavyweight behemoths have experienced when forced to work off their backs, this is basically a fight that will be decided by Griggs’ ability, or lack thereof, to stop takedowns.

As long as Lashley does what he’s been doing -- running people over with his shot and working ground-and-pound -- Griggs shouldn’t be much of a challenge for him. Of course, given the little we’ve seen of Lashley thus far and some of his early struggles, there is a real chance that it’s a matter of time before his MMA run hits a serious speed bump against someone he’s “supposed” to beat. I just don’t think Griggs is the man to pull that feat off.