Brock Lesnar did not need the Ultimate Fighting Championship belt to strut around with to make him the guy with a target taped on his back. He WAS the target – plus the words “Hit Me” –the very first moment he entered the octagon.

If you say it’s because of his WWE background, yes, it’s because of that – and more.

There are several fighters who hailed from the world of pro wrestling, and some of them (Ken Shamrock, Mark Coleman, and Dan Severn) are hall of famers now. By “several” we mean a whole bunch of 61 cage warriors to date. So why pick on Brock Lesnar?

It’s his WWE background, and more. Unlike the other MMA fighters who dabbled in pro wrestling at one point or another, Brock Lesnar’s entry to MMA was something you would either hate or envy.

An outsider, an “actor” in the fake, “scripted,” and theatrical world of WWE getting a contract like that, and an exposure like that would surely offend both the “legitimate” mixed martial artists and the hardcore fans. And this is not without a valid reason: In Lesnar’s first foray into the octagon (Dynamite!! USA), he earned $500,000 while someone as big an MMA sensation as Royce Gracie only got $300,000.

You know, MMA fighters are not unlike the warriors of Sparta. They are heavily trained in known mixed martial arts disciplines – for years. And they are a proud lot. They are a special breed of disciplined professional fighters. It becomes quite understandable that it becomes inconceivable, even unacceptable that someone who comes from a “different breed”, from a different (and fake) world, could just comes in with a bigger ticket, on a red carpet, with huge media fanfare and an accompanying huge contract to boot. We could not blame the hardcores for hating Lesnar.

It is in this same breath that we could not blame Lesnar for his attitude towards the fans. Not that we agree with or condone his so-called “unprofessional,” and very “WWE” post-Mir-fight antics. But when you are negatively judged, derided, booed, and taken as a phoney even before (and even after) you prove yourself, you’d surely feel sore. And feel unfairly treated. And, since Brock Lesnar is no lame duck, would eventually want to hit back.

And thus, we get Lesnar’s attitude.

It is not WWEish, it is not unprofessional. It is a fighter’s instinct.

Bobby Lashley, another fighter with the “WWE-turning-MMA” stigma written all over is another case in point. Remember Jason Guida’s “You’ve been faking this for how long” question? Or Mike Cook’s Nacho Libre mask to taunt Lashley?

Lesnar, and the still undefeated newcomer Lashley (4-0) are just some of the exciting things helps a lot in the popularity and growth of mixed martial arts. Wait till you get a taste of Kimbo Slice in The Ultimate Fighter (and God forbids if he gets a slot in the UFC).

And wait…there’s still that genie Kazaam hovering around and threatening to wreak havoc inside that bloody cage after he retires from being a cager – no pun intended.

The future is bright for MMA.

Fans of Randy Couture (including some of us here at MMA Weekly) were devastated. Sometimes, watching too much Hollywood flicks could be bad for the mental health of fans of mixed martial arts.

This is not Rocky Balboa fighting the humungous Russian Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) in Rocky IV. Only in Hollywood would a Stallone vanquish a Lundgren. Fact is, while Stallone destroyed Lundgren on the widescreen, he was actually flown to a hospital and stayed in the intensive care for eight days when Dolph Lundgren hit him in the chest during one of the fight scenes. Even Carl Withers (who played Apollo Creed—a character based on Mohammad Ali) announced that he was quitting after a having too much of Lundgren’s punches during one of the shooting! Simple physics tells us about mass and the force that goes with it. The bigger the mass…

Now, this is mixed martial arts—the real thing. And we have our MMA hero Couture facing that large mass of muscles from a guy who hailed from another planet…planet WWE. We thought it was Hollywood, and Couture would always prevail. We were dead wrong.

Brock Lesnar is not your regular massive 265-pounds, 6 foot 3 MMA warrior (as if there’s anything regular about such size) he also moves swiftly in a manner that defies gravity. No baggage in that hulk of a physiology, baby, just pure unadulterated working muscles powered by equally huge doses of adrenaline of the octane kind.

Most of us must have this foreboding at the first seconds of the fight when we see how Lesnar’s size dwarfed Couture inside the octagon. It’s different when you compare stats, where you just play with figures of the fighters’ size and height in your head. Reality has a way of slapping us back to reality once we see the massive Lesnar hover over Couture. It wouldn’t have made any difference if only Lesnar doesn’t move with the agility of a 200-pound warrior.

Couture’s plan was to stay on his feet, perhaps to deprive Lesnar of the weight and size advantage if they grapple on the mat. However, this plan simply gives Lesnar more opportunities to land his power punches. It’s a conundrum. You avoid your opponent’s weight and size but as a consequence, you expose yourself to his power punches with a stand up game.

And one of the power punches hits its mark.

Lesnar just made the world of mixed martial arts more exciting with his colourful demeanor and demeaning bulk. We at MMA Weekly say, he’s bringing the showmanship and drama that mostly accompanies the then highly patronized WWE.

UFC, and MMA in general, may not be Hollywood, but it can learn from the way it promotes itself.

Check out the MMA weekly table below, we could clearly see that this is an ultimate test for “The Natural.”  Lesnar’s time will come, but this bout is all about Couture.   All the drama of Stallone’s surprise “Rocky” reprise, and the bloody breath-taking grandeur of Russel Crowe’s “Gladiator” fight scenes COULD all be rendered puny by UFC91 on November 15, 2008 (barring any repeat of the Kimbo-Petrucelli 14-second letdown).  That’s just five days from the day we posted this!

This is quite an intriguing scenario: is Randy Couture’s superior skills, brought about by his more than a decade of fighting experience, going to be more than enough to compensate for the wear and tear his body must have been enduring from more than a decade of punishment?

Besides that, Couture hasn’t seen a real fight for the past 15 months, while Lesnar has been busy with two bouts this year alone, the latest being barely three months ago.  Ring rust!

Couture says, he’s got his own gym, his stable of warriors (Forrest Griffin, et al) that he can pick to fight with every week.  He might not have gone up the octagon with all the klieg lights, but his gym’s ring is just about as real as anywhere in the world–with or without the cameras and ring announcers.

Couture’s buddy, Matt Lindland believes that if Couture would just keep Lesnar’s power puches in early rounds at bay, he could make use of his ground and pound stopping power.  Those pro-Couture say he toppled Sylvia, so he can demolish Lesnar just the same.  However, let us not forget that while Sylvia’s kickboxing was no match to Couture’s ground game, Lesnar could give a better match considering that he too is a wrestler—and a bigger one at that.

That could make all the difference in the world.

  

 

Less than two weeks and the mma weekly team will all go the biggest fight in UFC history, the Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar face-off.  And don’t you start grumbling about not having the Couture vs. Fedor fight.  It’s a dream fight alright, but Fedor still has to settle contract matters with Affliction.  And, if Dana White is to be believed, it won’t be long now.  White said, “I would be horrified if Affliction was still in business by January.”  That settles it then.

Now back to the Couture vs. Lesnar dream fight.

It’s going to be held on November 15, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.  That’s less than 3 weeks before the biggest boxing event featuring boxing legends Oscar de la Hoya and people’s champ Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao.  Another event that’s sure to burn a hole in my pocket!

OK, back to the Couture vs. Lesnar dream fight.  This time…really!

Dana “it’s good to be” White is rubbing his palms now as he counts millions, “The thing is going to do over a million pay per view buys” as fans would jockey for the best view of the 5-found UFC heavyweight championship.  The eventual winner will take on the winner of the Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogeira tiff which is also expected to be a great bout.  Sorry dudes, no matchup with Fedor yet.

The Mir-Nogueira fight is for the UFC Interim Heavyweight championship which will be held in December.  If we get lucky, we may have the Couture-Fedor dream fight early next year—that is, if Couture doesn’t suddenly decide to succumb to old age.

We can never tell.  He may get some heavy beating from the largely larger foe in Lesnar who 13 years younger,  and  is 40 lbs bigger than Couture’s 224 lbs when he goes inside the octagon less than two weeks from now.

However, “The Natural,” who has been away for quite some time, was actually busy retooling his game.  Remember  March 2007?  When people said he just couldn’t make a win happen with someone as big as Tim Sylvia, and he proved everyone wrong?  Today, the same story is being rehashed, but with a different character.  This time, it is with a much younger, more formidable-looking phenomenon called Brock Lesnar.

“The Natural” has actually been very busy sharpening his skills.  He has been simulating his fight with Brock Lesnar,, “I brought Josh Hendricks in:  He’s actually fighting on the same card against Gabe Gonzaga…He’s a 245-pound guy with a wrestling background…. I’ve got guys like Mike Whitehead and a bunch of other guys that walk around 240, 250 with good, solid wrestling backgrounds… We’ve got a good crew.  They’re pushing me and ganging up on me.  It’s hard to find guys like Brock that are that size and move the way he moves.”

Now, this is going to be exciting.

 

The Brock Lesnar – Heath Herring bout was a most anticipated encounter not much because of the action and power both would surely unleash but much more on the drama and suspense of whatever the outcome is going to be. 

THE BROCK LESNAR DRAMA

This is Lesnar’s third professional mixed martial arts fight.  While his debut fight with Min Soo Kim was a spectacular one with him pinning Kim and overwhelming him with strikes on the head, Kim was not so much of in terms of being the best competitor for him.  His stars dimmed with his second bout with someone as formidable as Frank Mir.  Another lose would certainly push him back a great deal.

After his Mir defeat, some even have concerns about Lesnar’s taking on another seasoned gladiator.  Despite his sterling wrestling records, Lesnar is still a neophyte in the MMA arena.  He may have prepared so much in the gym but experience is also necessary as shown how Frank Mir put him in a tight spot.

                 Lesnar’s Strong Points

Several years in pro wrestling circuit didn’t change Lesnar’s sheer athleticism and explosiveness that was his best assets as a physically dominant fighter.  His stamina as a true athlete would make him stay longer on the fight, a characteristic that is usually lacking in fighters of his size and physique.

                The Brock Lesnar Win

Having fought a complete three rounds against a top-notch veteran fighter, Brock Lesnar has made it.  Now, from being an ex-pro-wrestling gone MMA fighter novelty, Lesnar has risen to someone that everyone would wonder who can stop this guy of such size and physique.  He has gone the distance.

The question now comes as who could rain Lesnar with strikes before he gets overcome by his submission.  The question now comes as, “how is Lesnar’s threshold for pain from a possible barrage of strikes from whoever he fights against next”.

THE HEATH HERRING LOSS

Not being able to snag a UFC title run, there is much pressure for the veteran gladiator on this bout.  This loss would take him farther away from a championship bout—a loss to an MMA rookie is a disaster to his career.

Here is last weekend’s action’s MMA results:

1.       Ben Saunders def. Ryan Thomas by submission (armbar) at 2:28 of the second round

2.       Chris Wilson def. Steve Bruno by unanimous decision

3.       Jon Jones def. Andre Gusmao by unanimous decision

4.       Cheick Kongo def. Dan Evensen by Technical Knockout (strikes) at 4:55 of the first round

5.       Tamdan McCrory def. Luke Cummo by unanimous decision

6.       Demian Maia def. Jason MacDonald by submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:44 of round three

7.       Kenny Florian def. Roger Huerta by unanimous decision

8.       Robert Emerson def. Manvel Gamburyan by Knockout (punches) at twelve seconds of round one

9.       Brock Lesnar def. Heath Herring by unanimous decision

10.   Georges St. Pierre def. Jon Fitch by unanimous decision