The rumored main event will be between Bobby Lashley and Bob Sapp. Lashley posted on his Twitter page that he had signed a deal to fight Sapp, though it was not known if "The Beast" had signed a deal. Lashley recently made a return to professional wrestling for the Total Nonstop Action promotion that airs on Spike TV, and it’s not clear how the role will affect his MMA career. Lashley has also signed with the Alberta-based Maximum Fighting Championship, according to the promotion, which airs shows on HDNet. Lashley, 2-0, is set to face Frank Shamrock student Mike Cook on May 15 at the River Cree Resort and Casino in Edmonton, says the promotion.
The card is also set to feature a heavyweight fight between Pedro Rizzo and Gilbert Yvel, according to a report from AOL’s MMA Fanhouse. Affliction Vice President Tom Atencio, 42, also told MMA Fanhouse that he will have his second professional MMA fight on the card against a to-be-named opponent.
• It was confirmed this week that heavyweight kingpin Fedor Emelianenko will face elite lightweight Shinya Aoki in an “exhibition sparring match” next Wednesday as part of a DEEP/M-1 Challenge co-promotion at the Differ Ariake arena. The rules of the sparring bout have not been established, but Emelianenko looks to have a 60- to 70-pound advantage.
• Hector Lombard, a judoka who represented Cuba in the 2000 Olympics, made an emphatic debut on U.S. soil April 17, knocking out Virgil Lozano in the first round to cap the third event from the ESPN-backed Bellator Fighting Championship on the Oklahoma University campus.
Lombard, a middleweight who's been sought by both the UFC and EliteXC, landed a tight left uppercut that put the overmatched Lozano down and to sleep. The bout advanced Lombard, who now trains at American Top Team, in Bellator's middleweight tournament against Damien Stelly, who bested Lion’s Den trailblazer Alex Andrade. Lombard said he's "got to" knock out everyone he faces in the bracket. Lombard will face Stelly next for Bellator on May 29 in Montreal.
Also at the Bellator event, MMA veteran Dave Menne picked up a win in the promotion’s welterweight tournament, overcoming a two-round deficit to cinch in a rear-naked choke in the third. Menne faces Omar de la Cruz in the next round. EliteXC veteran Yosmany Cabezas also advanced past Tijuana-based Edwin Aguilar, after Cabezas hit a trip takedown and worked to a fight-ending armbar from the bottom. Cabezas will face Jared Hess, who beat Spanish standout Daniel Tabera, on May 22 in Alexandria, La.
Bellator will stage its fourth show on April 24 in the same arena.
• The California State Athletic Commission is soon to be without leadership as William Douglas, interim head of the commission, will leave the post next month to take a job in the Department of Consumer Affairs Division of Legislation and Policy Review, wrestlingobserver.com reported. Douglas had served as assistant executive officer and interim lead since controversial commission head Armando Garcia resigned last November. Douglas championed recent changes into California’s MMA legislation that included giving the commission the power to overturn fight results based on failed drug tests. A search to replace Garcia has been underway since late last year.
• Andrei Arlovski will make his pro boxing debut on a Golden Boy-promoted card on June 27 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, reported Sherdog.com. An opponent for the four-round bout has not been named yet.