By James Caldwell, Torch assistant editor

Former WWE and TNA wrestler Bobby Lashley says he would take a fight with fellow WWE alum Dave Bautista, but he would prefer it happen in the very near feature before he starts facing tougher opponents in 2011.

Lashley (5-0) is scheduled to face Chad Griggs on Saturday night at the "Strikeforce: Houston" card. He told Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com that he's leaving a short window for Bautista to fight him after the Griggs fight.

"If I take the fight with Dave, you know what the critics are going to say. If the fans want to see that fight - it's entertainment - I'll take the fight," he said. "If I take the fight, it's got to be right after this one. I have to keep moving in the right direction. I'm not going to be at 5-0 looking at somebody that hasn't had a fight."

Lashley said he doesn't know how close Strikeforce is to making the fight, or even to signing Bautista. "If he wants to fight me, I'll fight him," he said. "I don't think any other fight makes sense for him. If he wants to get into it (MMA), and he wants to have a big fight, then fight me."

Asked who from the pro wrestling community will be at the Strikeforce card in Houston, Lashley said Booker T and The Boogeyman will be there. He said he extended an invitation to The Undertaker, who is from Houston and is a noted MMA aficionado. He said other pro wrestlers who live in the Houston area might show up as well.

As for his future in pro wrestling, Lashley said he does miss pro wrestling and he could return down the road, but he's completely focused on his fight career right now.

"Pro wrestling is great. I had a great time there. Pro wrestling kind of made the name 'Bobby Lashley.' It made it more mainstream. I'm not one of those guys that leaves and bad-mouths it," he said. "I do miss pro wrestling. Whether I go back to it, I don't know. Right now, all of my attention is focused on fighting."

Lashley also responded to the perception that he doesn't get much respect from the MMA community due to his time spent in WWE. He pointed to his strong amateur wrestling background where he says he had the equivalent of a black belt in wrestling with multiple National Championships at the collegiate level.

"I have a black belt in wrestling if that's how you want to look at it," he said. "Don't look at the WWE and say, 'Oh, this guy was in WWE and he was on TV, so he didn't do anything else and I don't have respect for him.' I have respect for everyone in the game. That's all I'm trying to get for myself is respect in the business."

Regarding the comparisons to former WWE wrestler Brock Lesnar, especially Lesnar facing higher quality opponents through the same number of career MMA fights, Lashley said he took a different path than Lesnar and he's proud of it.

"Me and Brock had two different gameplans coming in. He's had a great career and I don't know how long he's going with it, but I think he's doing great right now," he said. "I don't want to be compared to anyone; that's why I took the path I took moving up a little slower. I think I'm moving the way I should be moving."

Video: The complete 13-minute interview is in the video below or on MMAFighting.com.



[Torch photo credit Mike Lano (c) PWTorch.com]

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