The Ryback hitting pads

[puppetmaster]

Ken Shamrock, Dave Bautista, Bobby Lashley, Brock Lesnar and CM Punk have all tried their respective hands at mixed martial arts, and now it seems Ryback is the next professional wrestler to make his way to the cage.

Last month, Flocombat reported that former World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar Ryback, whose real name is Ryan Reeves, was in ongoing negotiations with Bellator MMA and that he was "hopeful" that the two parties could come to an agreement.

Following that report, Reeves appeared on the SiriusXM Busted Open radio show and gave a further update on the negotiations.

"Bellator has reached out," Reeves said. "They definitely want me to fight for them. That would probably be in a year's time. I can't make an honest decision on that until at least January when I'm sitting with my nutrition company and the website and the book. I have my hands in too many jars right now. As a business man, I am absolutely open to the idea of it. It just has to be the right fit for me."

Early training footage of Reeves has emerged and has been posted to social media. Suffice to say, the learning curve for the former WWE man appears to be steep.

 

[R=G]

Hmmm

 

[PlayerNinety_Nine]

*Ryback drops pads on table*

*Pads shoot on Ryback in 2 hour long Colt Cabana podcast*

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

For starters, he is too big and will gas after a couple of minutes (thats being nice). Whats his background in? If at all any?

My thing is, not him wanting to do MMA, its the fact that he is already too old to start learning everything from scratch, much like Punk, already behind the curve and doing pro wrestling and being on the road, his body is probably equal to that of a someone 10-15 years older. Getting a beatdown or KO'd is bad for his brand.

What some of these wrestlers need to understand, the MMA game has changed in the past 10 years. You now have alot of people like the guy who beat Punk are trained in MMA first and no longer specialize in one discipline like wrestling, BJJ, Boxing, kickboxing etc before taking up the sport.

When he is getting hammerfisted in the chops, what he gunna tell the breh punching him "Feed Me More".

 

[trick]

For starters, he is too big and will gas after a couple of minutes (thats being nice). Whats his background in? If at all any?

My thing is, not him wanting to do MMA, its the fact that he is already too old to start learning everything from scratch, much like Punk, already behind the curve and doing pro wrestling and being on the road, his body is probably equal to that of a someone 10-15 years older.

What some of these wrestlers need to understand, the MMA game has changed in the past 10 years. You now have alot of people like the guy who beat Punk are trained in MMA first and no longer specialize in one discipline like wrestling, BJJ, Boxing, kickboxing etc before taking up the sport.

When he is getting hammerfisted in the chops, what he gunna take the breh punching him "Feed Me More".

He has zero background. Bellator isn't bringing him in to be a contender, they're bringing him in to sell tickets and draw viewers. If Bellator really wants to sell him as a special attraction, then they just need to find someone with comparable experience. There's plenty of cans out there.

 

[YvrzTrvly]

Those skills are worse than cm punk straight up.

Looks like hes two weeks in for sure

 

[The Ruler 09]

Didn't really see any expertise here but he may just be taking it easy. Lashley on the other hand a legitimate beast.

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

He has zero background. Bellator isn't bringing him in to be a contender, they're bringing him in to sell tickets and draw viewers. If Bellator really wants to sell him as a special attraction, then they just need to find someone with comparable experience. There's plenty of cans out there.

I know why Bellator are bringing him in for, like UFC did w/ Punk to pop a couple of buys. Ryback talks about his brand and doing something like this will pop his brand till he fights but with no background in any sort of combat sport, his brand won't be looking good, when he loses in what could be in fashion. And with all the good work Bellator have done over the past couple of years with signing the likes of Bendo & Rory Mac away from UFC. I don't see them giving Ryback a can to fight, with the backlash of it being "fixed", if he wins.

 

[trick]

I know why Bellator are bringing him in for, like UFC did w/ Punk to pop a couple of buys. Ryback talks about his brand and doing something like this will pop his brand till he fights but with no background in any sort of combat sport, his brand won't be looking good, when he loses in what could be in fashion. And with all the good work Bellator have done over the past couple of years with signing the likes of Bendo & Rory Mac away from UFC. I don't see them giving Ryback a can to fight, with the backlash of it being "fixed", if he wins.

I doubt they care about that. They get plenty of backlash from hardcore MMA fans all the time. Joe Rogan went nuts over Kimbo vs Shamrock, he kept saying it was fixed. Bellator doesn't care about that, they just care about drawing viewers. If they really cared about what people thought, they wouldn't have booked Gracie vs Shamrock or Kimbo vs Dada in 2016. If Scott Coker could find cans for a 46 year old Herschel Walker, then he will find cans for Ryback.

 

[TL15]

If Scott Coker could find cans for a 46 year old Herschel Walker, then he will find cans for Ryback.

*cues cult of personality*

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

I doubt they care about that. They get plenty of backlash from hardcore MMA fans all the time. Joe Rogan went nuts over Kimbo vs Shamrock, he kept saying it was fixed. Bellator doesn't care about that, they just care about drawing viewers. If they really cared about what people thought, they wouldn't have booked Gracie vs Shamrock or Kimbo vs Dada in 2016. If Scott Coker could find cans for a 46 year old Herschel Walker, then he will find cans for Ryback.

When Bellator signed Walker 6 years ago, they weren't the company they are now, so you can have those side attractions like Walker fighting and only get some negative press. Regarding the other fights, even tho those car crashes shouldn't have been made in 2016, atleast those guys have a known history of fighting licenced or not, so its a far more easier sell.

 

[trick]

When Bellator signed Walker 6 years ago, they weren't the company they are now, so you can have those side attractions like Walker fighting and only get some negative press. Regarding the other fights, even tho those car crashes shouldn't have been made in 2016, atleast those guys have a known history of fighting licenced or not, so its a far more easier sell.

Herschel Walker never fought for Bellator, he fought for Scott Coker in Strikeforce. Strikeforce no longer exists. Ryback fighting is an easier sell than most of Bellator's fighters. Most of them are total unknowns to the general public. If Ryback fighting on a Bellator card means a casual fan will watch Andrey Koreshkov, Darrion Caldwell or MVP on the same show, then it's a worthwhile investment to make.

 

[SirReginald]

For starters, he is too big and will gas after a couple of minutes (thats being nice). Whats his background in? If at all any?

My thing is, not him wanting to do MMA, its the fact that he is already too old to start learning everything from scratch, much like Punk, already behind the curve and doing pro wrestling and being on the road, his body is probably equal to that of a someone 10-15 years older. Getting a beatdown or KO'd is bad for his brand.

What some of these wrestlers need to understand, the MMA game has changed in the past 10 years. You now have alot of people like the guy who beat Punk are trained in MMA first and no longer specialize in one discipline like wrestling, BJJ, Boxing, kickboxing etc before taking up the sport.

When he is getting hammerfisted in the chops, what he gunna tell the breh punching him "Feed Me More".

Punk had a lot of prior injuries though. Also, Ryback is healthy and is a few years younger than Punk.

 

[onthereal]

Damn that nikka is juice out and huge

 

[Kunty McPhuck]

Herschel Walker never fought for Bellator, he fought for Scott Coker in Strikeforce. Strikeforce no longer exists. Ryback fighting is an easier sell than most of Bellator's fighters. Most of them are total unknowns to the general public. If Ryback fighting on a Bellator card means a casual fan will watch Andrey Koreshkov, Darrion Caldwell or MVP on the same show, then it's a worthwhile investment to make.

I know that, reason why TNT aka DC Dave fight with them fell thru, when they were bought out by Zuffa.

Obviously Ryback is an easy sell, because people are perverts and some enjoy paying for fukkery more than others.

Either way i doubt he has anything more than 2 fights.