After taking in this weekend's 'Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons II' event in San Jose, news is coming via MMA Junkie that WWE star Dave Bautista is looking to make his big push into MMA sometime early next year. The former Pro wrestler has been spending time training with the Diaz brothers and the rest of the Cesar Gracie camp, so he seems to be taking the right steps in surrounding himself with quality trainers. I can guarantee that group couldn't care less about who Bautista is, so I don't think this is another instance of someone like James Toney training with a bunch of 'yes men' paid to boost egos.
Although a deal is reportedly not even close to being done,' Bautista is looking to make his debut in March 2011. Negotiations with Strikeforce began in June, but as of yet nothing has come of it. The two sides are having a pretty difficult time coming together on the money, but Bautista seems to have a pretty ambitious idea about a fight deal.
"My thing is I want to do a multi-fight deal," he said. "I want to have a guarantee of at least three fights. I want a tune-up fight, I want a big fight, and I want a pay-per-view fight."
While insanely unrealistic, we're talking about Scott Coker and Strikeforce, after all. If they think they've found the next Brock Lesnar, they need to keep looking.
"I'd have an easier fight where I could get comfortable in the cage, and then I'd like to go into a big fight with Bobby, and then I'd like to have a large pay-per-view fight," he said.
Well, with very recent news of Bobby Lashley's contract expiring with Strikeforce, that fight could be hard to pull together. Unless Lashley drops his asking price while negotiating a new deal with the promotion, getting these two together seems pretty unlikely.
Bautista claims to only need a 10 week camp to be prepared for his debut, but if you ask me, it sounds pretty unrealistic. I've actually rolled with him, and I can truly attest to his strength and work ethic. As far as his grappling pedigree? I don't think it's anywhere near where it needs to be to compete at this level. I honestly don't know if he would survive an absolute blue belt tournament at NAGA.
"I think I'll be an exciting fighter. I'm either going to win big or lose big."
We shall see.