Brock Lesnar: What He Must Do to Come Back Better Than Ever

When the news broke that Brock Lesnar was dropping out of his bout with Junior dos Santos at UFC 131, questions immediately arose about whether he would ever be back in the Octagon. But Lesnar did his best to put those thoughts to rest by proclaiming that this “is not the last you’ve seen of Brock Lesnar in the UFC.”

But we’ve been through this before.

The first time Lesnar was battling this disease, there was even a thought that he might not make it through it as the doctors were unable to diagnose and treat the disease immediately. He got through it eventually, but the physical toll it took on his body was obvious.

Not only did Lesnar lose a dramatic and even unhealthy amount of weight, but he also was out of the sport for nearly a year. He was never the same when he came back, either against Shane Carwin or Cain Velasquez.

In fighting this second bout with diverticulitis, Lesnar will need to take some steps in order to make a successful return to the UFC. It won’t be easy, but he’s the kind of fighter who can do it.

Maintain a Fiber-Heavy Diet

Diverticulitis is a tough disease given its sometimes unpredictable flare-ups. These flare-ups can cause a dramatic decrease in energy as well as a tremendous amount of pain for the victim.

What’s even more difficult is that the disease is much more dangerous for high-level athletes who are consistently pushing their bodies to the edge. It goes without saying that Brock Lesnar is one of those athletes.

One of the best ways to prevent flare-ups of diverticulitis is to maintain a high-fiber diet.

Lesnar says that he was doing this before and he very well could have been, but it remains an extremely important aspect of combating the disease.

Without going into details, this diet will make things much easier on the infected part of the body.

Spend Time Studying Opponents

Even though he’s a world-class mixed martial artist himself, Brock Lesnar has been quoted and shown signs of not being the world’s biggest fan of the sport when he’s not involved.

In fact, in a memorable interview with ESPN’s Jim Rome, Lesnar had absolutely no idea who Chael Sonnen was.

“Is he a fighter?” Lesnar asked. “I don’t know who he is. I’m serious.”

It’s one thing to not know who a low-card fighter is, but Chael Sonnen main evented UFC 117 against Anderson Silva. To not know who he is really gives us insight on how much MMA that Lesnar is actually watching.

Of course, we have to assume that he and his coaches do plenty of scouting on the opponent they’re about to face. But it would have to be helpful to do additional scouting while he has some time off.

He can start by watching and reviewing the new UFC 131 main event between Junior dos Santos and Shane Carwin, as he may well be fighting one of them in his next fight.

Work on Defense from the Guard

It’s hard to imagine Brock Lesnar being on his back much in his MMA career and that’s likely because he hasn’t spent much time there at all yet. Always aggressive, Lesnar is generally the fighter who pushes the pace and ends up taking his opponents down.

But when he faced Shane Carwin at UFC 116, we got a glimpse at what may be the biggest hole in his game.

In the first round of that fight, Lesnar found himself on his back as the heavy-handed brawler from Colorado smashed him with punches. Using only his forearms as defense, Lesnar took quite a few big shots and the fight was even nearly stopped.

Future opponents will note this weakness and exploit it if they have the opportunity.

Improve Technical Boxing Skills

One look at the UFC heavyweight division and it’s obvious to see that one of the most important things for Brock Lesnar to do will be improving his standup game.

Not only was Lesnar stopped by punches from Cain Velasquez in his most recent fight, but he also took a huge amount of damage from Shane Carwin in the fight before that. Some may question his chin after those fights, but it’s not so much his chin that is the problem. It’s his questionable technical boxing skills.

Lesnar has plenty to learn still, given that he has only been training in mixed martial arts for a handful of years, but this is likely his most pressing need. The heavyweight division is stocked full of big punchers who are just waiting for a chance to land the one big punch to end a fight. 

Don’t Rush Back into the Cage

The UFC and Dana White will say that they didn’t rush him back, and they’re probably right. But as the UFC Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar may have felt pressured to return to the Octagon as soon as he could after his first bout with diverticulitis.

Lesnar claims that he was only about 85-to-90-percent for his fight with Cain Velasquez, meaning that he was even less than that for his return fight with Shane Carwin.

This time, it needs to be different. Brock needs to make sure that he is healthy before he starts pushing his body again.

At this point, it’d be difficult to question the man’s heart and desire to fight, but if he comes back again and isn’t at full-strength, we could see a repeat of what happened at UFC 121 when he was in the fetal position, taking punches from the new Heavyweight Champion.

Health and Family Come First

At the end of the day, Brock’s health and his family have to come first.

He has said this himself numerous times in the past as well as on the conference call when it was announced that he was battling the disease again.

“The person I am doesn’t want to back down from a fight, but my health and my family are more important than stepping in the Octagon for I don’t care how much money,” Lesnar told us on the call.

“If you don’t have your health and your family, you don’t have diddly squat.”

There will be a lot of physical roadblocks in the way of Brock returning to the cage, but the mental one of being a husband and a father first foremost to fighting could be the most difficult one to overcome. If Brock is afraid to go 100-percent in fear of injuring himself or having another flare-up with the disease, he could be in for a tough situation when he does back.