Don’t make fun of Bobby Lashley and his pro wrestling background. The former WWE star said he was incensed by the fact that his opponent Mike Cook came to the cage in a lucha libre mask a la Nacho Libre.

Lashley is generally a polite, sportsman but he refused to touch gloves with Cook. He charged Cook in the opening seconds and missed with a huge right. Cook made the mistake of dropping his head. Lashley, a big MMA heavyweight at 6-foot-3, 249 pounds, grabbed onto Cook’s head with his left arm. From there, he used his bulk to lean on Cook and it took just a few seconds for Cook to wilt under Lashley’s weight. Lashley flattened out Cook (7-4) and re-positioned his right arm to cinch on a choke. Cook’s legs could be seen quivering and referee John McCarthy had to step in to stop the fight (video). All that in just 24 seconds during Maximum Fighting Championship 21 at the River Cree Resort and Casino just outside Edmonton, Alberta.

Lashley needed to get through this fight unscathed because he has a stiff test against freakazoid Bob Sapp right around the corner. Sapp, a former NFL player, NCAA All-American at Washington and a huge crossover star in Japan, is 6-4, 345. He doesn’t have much stamina but he is dangerous for about 4-5 minutes. Sapp (10-3-1) and Lashley will meet on June 27 in Biloxi, Miss.