The headliner is set for Super Fight League 3: heavyweights Bobby Lashley (7-1) vs. James Thompson (17-14).
The Indian-based organization today announced the fight, which takes place May 6 at IGI Stadium in New Delhi. The entire lineup streams on YouTube.
Other announced SFL 3 bouts include light heavyweights Trevor Prangley (23-9-1) vs. Baga Agaev (26-11), middleweights Doug Marshall (14-5) vs. Zelg Galesic (10-6), and 125-pounders Lena Ovchynnikova (8-1) vs. Joanne Calderwood (1-0).
As MMAjunkie.com (
UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com) reported this past week, Lashley is in the running for a currently unannounced June 21 event in Russia for a fight with Fedor Emelianenko (33-4). The SFL booking makes that possibility a little less likely.
Lashley, a former WWE star performer who took up MMA in 2008, went 1-1 in Strikeforce with a TKO of Wes Sims and a TKO loss to Chad Griggs. Since then, the former amateur-wrestling champion has picked up a pair of wins on the regional circuit against John Ott and Karl Knothe (for the Sharks Fights heavyweight title).
Thompson, meanwhile, headlined the first-ever SFL event in March and defeated Bob Sapp, who submitted in the first round from an apparent leg injury. Thompson, a former PRIDE and EliteXC fighter, is 2-0 (with one no-contest) since a career-worst 1-8 skid from 2007 to 2010.
Prangley, meanwhile, has competed for just about every major organization while fighting a who's who in the middleweight and light-heavyweight divisions. Since an 11-1-1 run, he's now stuck in a 1-4 skid. The South-African wrestler looks to rebound against Agaev, a Russian who's posted 17 submissions (and four knockouts) in 26 career wins. He's currently on a 9-1 run, which included a 6-1 mark during a busy 2011 campaign.
Marshall is a former WEC light-heavyweight champion who was on a 9-1 run before recent Tachi Palace Fights losses to Kyacey Uscola and Giva Santana. However, he rebounded for a recent 21-second knockout of Richard Blake in September. Galesic, a former PRIDE and DREAM fighter, recently suffered a submission loss to Alexander Shlemenko at Bellator 50 (in a middleweight-tourney opening-round fight) to fall to 1-3 in his past four fights.
Sticking with past events, SFL also will have a women's bout on the card. It features Ovchynnikova, who suffered her first career loss at SFL 1 when Sanja Sucevic submitted her in the first round, aginst Calderwood, a Scottish fighter who recently made a successful pro debut with a TKO of Noellie Molina in her home country.
