January 12, 2010
Undefeated MMA Heavyweight Bobby Lashley and Football Legend Herschel Walker were the hosts of a ShowTime Sports/Strike Force media luncheon at Shula’s Steak House in Miami Lakes, FL.
Walker (left) and Lashley
At the Q&A’s part of the luncheon Bobby Lashley was asked how he felt about his arrival to StrikeForce. Lasley said he was excited to fight for Strike Force and debut for them here in South Florida, since he trains at American Top Team in Coconut Creek, FL.
“It’s going to be great to fight in front of my training partners, family and friends”.
He thanked Strike Force for giving him the opportunity to compete with some of the best heavyweights in the world. Lashley hopes to move up the ladder and someday fight for the title. There has been no opponent set for Lashley at this time.
Herschel Walker’s first question was to the point.
“Herschel what are you doing here?”
His reply was -
“That’s a good question? What am I doing here? ”.
Getting a laugh out of the crowd, he then went on to explain that if anybody knew him they would know that he has done a lot of crazy things in his life. He ‘s done most everything anybody can think of. One thing he has always loved is MMA. He’s been doing martial arts for a very long time. Walker holds a 5th degree black belt in TKD and also trained in Muay Thai and Kempo before coming to American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, CA.
Walker was very excited that Strike Force gave him the opportunity to compete. He went on to explain how sometimes you have to put your ego aside.
“You can want to do this, but whether I can do this was up to my coach Javier Mendez”.
Coach Javier Mendez went on to say when he met Walker two months ago and found out that he wanted to fight in MMA, he thought that a person of Walker’s age should not be fighting at this particular stage of his life. But after seeing what Walker can do, his previous thoughts were thrown out the window. Mendez was amazed because Walker had the key ingredients for fighting in MMA, which are his explosiveness, cardio, and his willingness to learn.
“At this stage of someone’s life I don’t think any one could do this except Walker”, said Mendez.
Strikeforce Dir. of Comm. Mike Afromowitz
Javier Mendez is not only a renowned trainer, but a co-founder of AKA. Team AKA boasts some of the world’s top MMA talent, including superstars Cung Le and Josh Thomson.
Strike Force Director Of Communications Mike Afromowitz announced at the luncheon that Walker will face 26 year old Greg Nady of Chandler, Arizona, in his January 30th MMA debut.
Hector Feliciano is the founder and Editor of the Martial Arts Times. A fighting enthusiast, He looks forward to sharing his experiences with readers and interacting in the wonderful world of Martial Arts. 
can’t wait for the Joe Ray fight. I watched him knock a guys teeth out to win the ISKA florida championship