Former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Bobby Lashley experienced some growing pains in his second appearance as a professional mixed martial artist.

The muscular 32-year-old smothered journeyman Jason Guida in the clinch and on the ground, landed nearly all of the significant strikes and settled for a valuable but unspectacular unanimous decision victory at Square Ring Promotions “March Badness” on Saturday at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Fla.

Lashley (2-0) dominated much of the bout, though his overzealousness nearly resulted in his succumbing to a third-round guillotine choke. Guida trapped him in the middle of a double-leg takedown and tightened his grip around Lashley’s tree trunk of a neck. He seemed in trouble for a time but popped his head free roughly half a minute later.

“A hold like that is so tight that you’ve got to make a decision whether or not you want to be a champion or just another MMA fighter,” Lashley said. “I had to dig deep.”

Guida (17-20, 2 NC) -- who accepted the fight on short notice after UFC hall of famer Ken Shamrock, Lashley’s original opponent, was suspended for suspected steroid use in California -- stayed competitive but absorbed a number of heavy punches and a powerful second-round slam. Ultimately, the judges sided with Lashley by matching 30-27 scores.

Faced with an enormous strength disadvantage, Guida taunted and baited Lashley during the brief buildup for their match, mocking his professional wrestling background. His tactics worked, and Lashley vouched for their effectiveness afterward.

“I came in here in the wrong frame of mind,” Lashley said. “This is a sport, and we’re gentlemen. We’re going to go back, and we’re going to train.”

In the co-main event, MMA’s resident anarchist, Jeff Monson, won a controversial decision from former International Fight League champion Roy Nelson. Scores were 29-28 on all three cards.

Nelson (13-4) mounted Monson in the first round and took him down twice with trips in the second, but he failed to capitalize when he had the tattooed veteran on his back. Monson escaped from underneath the 260-pound behemoth numerous times and carried his weight for much of the match. He peppered Nelson’s soft mid-section with knees from the clinch in the second round, which may have turned the tide in the judges’ eyes.

“I wanted to go to the ground,” Monson said. “I couldn’t move him. We just fought a tough fight.”

A decorated grappler with roots at American Top Team, Monson wobbled Nelson with a left hook in the first minute of the final round but did not follow it with anything of consequence. The two heavyweights spent the closing moments in the clinch and then traded blows over the final 10 seconds.

Monson (27-8), once a challenger for the UFC heavyweight championship, has quietly pieced together a four-fight winning streak since his decision loss to Josh Barnett at Sengoku “Second Battle” in May.

“This is a big win,” Monson said. “Roy’s a tough guy. It could have gone either way.”

Meanwhile, Din Thomas took another positive step in his transition to the featherweight division, as he finished Strikeforce veteran Gabe Lemley with a first-round knee strike.

Thomas (24-8) weathered a hail of early strikes from the Iowan before he seized control of the match. Eventually, he pushed the fight to the ground and popped Lemley (13-9) with punches and hammerfists. When they returned to a standing position, Thomas backed Lemley into the ropes and unloaded with a dizzying flurry before clinching and finishing him with the knee. The end came 4:13 into round one.

A cagy Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt based at American Top Team, the 32-year-old Thomas has rattled off back-to-back wins since he lost two straight inside the UFC’s hallowed Octagon. He had not finished a foe with strikes in more than seven years.

In his first appearance since a steroids-related suspension 16 months ago, UFC veteran Dennis Hallman needed less than two minutes to turn away Danny Ruiz.

Hallman (40-12-2, 1 NC) shot immediately for a takedown and bullied Ruiz into a clinch in the corner. From there, he scored with a takedown into half guard, passed deftly to side mount and captured Ruiz’s back during a scramble. Without much trouble, Hallman cinched a rear-naked choke for the tapout 1:50 into the opening period.

Perhaps best known for his two lightning-quick victories against longtime UFC welterweight king Matt Hughes, Hallman has now secured 31 of his 40 career wins by submission. Ruiz (5-4) has lost four in a row.