Between his wrestling stints, Bobby Lashley competed in 17 MMA fights, going 15-2 during his career.
Lashley began his MMA career in 2008 after a run with WWE, competing for MFA. Lashley would go on to fight for Strikeforce, Titan FC, and Bellator.
Speaking to Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Lashley was asked if there were ever any talks with UFC.
"At the beginning, when I first started fighting, I think there were little talks with it. They said, ‘Yeah, we’ll give him an opportunity, but he needs to work his way up.’ I was like, ‘Okay.’ It was a decision I had to make. One, I could fight for some other organizations that were offering more money. I always thought, if the situation changes in WWE, I thought that was my calling and where I really deserved to be. I just needed time away because of the situation and things going on. I was like, ‘Here is an opportunity for me to keep it open and then go back.’ I didn’t want to lock in a contract with them because I would have to shut off wrestling," he said.
Asked if he had discussions with UFC later in his career, Lashley replied, "Yes, but when I did that I was with TNA and I was like, ‘I don’t want to give up pro wrestling.’ That was the biggest thing. I didn’t want to give up pro wrestling. When I talked to Bellator they were like, ‘We’ll let you pro wrestle.’ Done."
Lashley last fought in 2016, defeating Josh Appelt at Bellator 162.
When signing with AEW, Lashley mentioned that he could potentially take a MMA fight if offered. You can find his comments by clicking here.
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