Brock Lesnar: Future Chump or Champ?
By Curtis Clontz on Apr 01, 2008
Brock Lesnar is the new car in the garage. The plastic is still on the seats; it still has the dealer tags, and still has that new car smell. Like a new car, many fans feel that Brock Lesnar is far better than he really is. I enjoy going on the different MMA forums and blog sites and reading how he is the savior of the heavyweight division, how he could beat Fedor, or how great he is. I have nothing against Lesnar at all, but I am not on his large bandwagon.
Lesnar has had an interesting life. He has done much more than the average person and he has a great athletic ability. In 2000 he was crowned the NCAA Heavyweight Champion and the year prior he finished second. After college he moved on to another type of wrestling, professional wrestling. His recent venture takes him into the sport of MMA.
In his first fight in the UFC and second fight in MMA ever, he was paid $250,000; more than anyone else on the fight card that night. It is no question why he was paid this much – Lesnar has a drawing power that other fighters just don’t have. The UFC is banking on Lesner to have a huge following from his pro wrestling days and I believe it is an outrageous paycheck for a guy that was 1-1 in MMA and his first fight in the UFC.
I do not have a problem with Lesnar, and I feel that in the future he could do very well. This however is not a given, as many of the fans want to believe. Although there is a huge upside to Lesnar, there is also a huge downside. Brock Lesnar is similar to Kimbo Slice in the fact that they are not great all around fighters. Brock Lesnar has a great wrestling backgroung, but in my opinion this is his only strong suit. This alone can not propel you to be a champ; Josh Koscheck is the most prolific college wrestler in the UFC, yet he isn’t a champ or even top 3.
The downside of Lesnar starts with his inexperience in the cage. He has 1 fight and lost. Some fans have said that his experience from pro wrestling and being in front of people will transfer into the cage. I feel that this is a stretch. Pro wrestling has nothing to do with getting punched in the face or completely choked out. Lesnar had tons of experience in front of people, but I promise you he was nervous!
Brock Lesnar at this point in his career has many question marks regarding his overall MMA game. First of all we do not know if he has a solid chin or a glass jaw. He also has little ground game. Look at Houston Alexander. You can be very dominant on your feet, but when you go to the ground you have to be able to stop submissions and get back to your feet. It was once said that 95% of all fights end up on the ground. He proved against Mir (an overrated past his prime Mir) that a superior submission artist will give him problems. His standup hasn’t been tested yet. He hasn’t had the chance to show that he can stand and bag with the big guys in the division. If he has boxing training he is keeping it a secret. Another aspect of his game, which is one of the most important, that hasn’t been tested is his heart and conditioning. In his pro MMA career he has only fought for 2:39 combined. He hasn’t proved how he fights when he is severely fatigued. He also hasn’t show whether he has the conditioning to go a full fight (yea I watched the All Access too, he has to prove it in the cage).
The UFC is a business. Part of this business is putting fans in the seats. At this time Brock is an exciting addition to a weak division, especially with the apparent loss of Tim Sylvia and the inability to sign Fedor. If the UFC is smart (and they are), they will feed Brock formidable but beatable opponents. They should avoid scheduling him fights with BJJ black belts, submission artists, or guys that are bad matchups. They need Lesnar to win to keep drawing in the fans. Once Lesnar’s overall game comes together, he could be a force and challenge for the title. Brock has good ground and pound, and is a monster of a man. He has a huge upside and should (I repeat SHOULD) be well worth the money the UFC is paying for him just by his fan following. Many feel that Lesnar could be up for a title fight in 2 or 3 more fights. Lesnar has a huge upside, but then again has tons to prove. It will be interesting as we all watch him mature in the cage, and possibly blossom into the fighter Dana thinks he is. As of right now Brock Lesnar is not that fighter. Right now he can’t beat Nog for the title. Many fans need to be reminded that he is new to MMA. Stop anticipating that he is the next heavyweight force to dominate the UFC, and enjoy his growth in the sport. If he has unreal expectation, he will almost certainly fail.
Good write up , I agree for the most part.
Keep up the good work.
Very good post. I am a Brock Lesnar fan, but I agree like 95% with what you wrote. Lesnar is green, really green, but he’s a force, a freak of nature. He has excellent wrestling, can possibly take anyone down at will, and goes out in all attack mode, trying to Knock the other guy Out as fast as he can. That’s good for a change. However, thinking that he can beat Big Nog now is delusional. He could, but not now, maybe next year, maybe the following, maybe never.
Lesnar is a cool guy and with a couple of wins he’ll have a HUGE fan base. You can see the makings of something great with how quick he moves on the ground…now if he can just keep those ankles safe and stop leaving his arm out there!
I agree he has the chance to be special, but just like Kimbo, it is unfair to either of them to compare them to great fighters or have them fight the best competition available. At least until they are prepared for it.
Yeah, well said. I’m a huge fan of Brock Lesnar, but the criticisms are really realistic. Just like with any great champion, we’ve got to get him time. I’d be more worried if he went undefeated, really – sports doesn’t need another Mike Tyson who can’t psychologically handle a loss.
Your comparison to Koscheck is entirely irrelevant because the WW division is a far more competitive weightclass. At Heavyweight, you have a few elite guys, a few decent dudes, and then a bunch of slobs. After Fedor, Nog, Barnett, the rest of the top-ten is not all that stellar. Other than that, very good article.
Brock’s next fight is against Heath Herring, who is likely a top 10 UFC Heavyweight, and I wouldn’t at all be surprised if Brock ate his lunch. If/when that happens, you will be looking at a fighter that many others will not be interested in fighting.
Herring should not be top 10. If so it is due to the small number of top competitors. He was the beneficiary of a good leg kick and an ALMOST finish of Nog.
He is a very beatable opponent for Lesnar. The UFC needs Lesnar to dominate Herring and make a run for the title.
Well I would say Herring is a Top Ten UFC HW more as a result of poor competition, as you suggest, but that doesn’t distract from the fact that, should Brock beat him, he has to be considered a player in the UFC HW division.
I reluctantly agree with most of this article. As much as i wish some of the opinions in this article weren’t true, i know in the back of my mind they are. Lesnar is a very promising fighter and should bring a large fan base with him to the UFC. If he is going to be truly successful in the UFC he is going to need to improve his ground game and realize he is not a god. His performance against made me realize that Lesnar really has a long way to go before he can even think about a title, or taking on some of the better heavy-weight fighters. Hopefully he realizes this and will work hard and turn his weaknesses into strengths. His ground and pound ability, energy, and raw power surpass any other heavy-weight fighter. He is the future of the heavy-weight division and i will be following him very closely.
I have to say after his performance on Sat, I wasn’t impressed. Sure, he was in better shape and outworked a much over hyped Texas Crazy Horse, but all he showed was that he is big, strong, can take people down, and hold em there… I learned nothing more than that he hasn’t yet let go of the WWE in him and will talk… It made him look like a 16 year old winning his firs fight over a guy for a girl…
Sure Dana loves it. This is his cash cow and future of the division, but he proved nothing more than he can hold on while the clock runs out and that he has little to no ground game outside of wrestling.
Curtis, it seems more like you are looking for a reason not to be impressed than actually being objectively not impressed. Brock showed, again, that he can put people on the ground with his standup. He showed some decent knees from the clinch, superior speed and strength, and that he can do immense damage to people. The post fight antics absolutely have nothing to do with the fight itself, which was a complete annihilation.
Not really man.
To be honest if he was impressive then I would say that. In my opinion he was not impressive. No big deal. I think that Herring is highly over rated.
Do you feel that Lesnar answered any questions in his win over Herring? I don’t think he showed us anything we didn’t already knew…
I am not a Lesnar hater, but I am against Aaron Rodgers acting like Brett Favre (just an example, not saying he is). Lesnar is acting like he is the next coming of Randy Couture, but he isn’t.
Any question about what? I already explained that he has shown some striking ability (flying knee, knees from clinch, knees from side control, an explosive straight.) His power and speed was on display. Aside from attempting foolish submission attempts (which answer the question ‘can he fight smart?’) on a better Jujitsu player, what more did you want from him in that fight?