Brock Lesnar or Georges St-Pierre: Whose Return Would Benefit the UFC More?
Both Brock Lesnar and Georges St-Pierre are respected fighters in their own right. The two are former world champions and sport a long list of impressive accolades.
However, Lesnar left mixed martial arts competition in 2011, citing his struggles with diverticulitis. In 2013, St-Pierre vacated the welterweight title that he held for six years, stating that he needed “some time off.”
Recently, a great amount of speculation has surfaced regarding the return of both dominant athletes. Both combatants’ star power alone would benefit the UFC on varying levels.
While Lesnar’s return would make more of an immediate impact with respect to money, his age, one-dimensional fighting style and history of health issues would more than likely make it difficult for the Next Big Thing to remain competitive, and eventually may render him inactive (again) altogether.
With regard to fighting, St-Pierre possesses none of the above issues that plague Lesnar, which could potentially set him and the UFC up for big paydays over the next five years at least.
Brock Lesnar: Ol' Man Time
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With no prior mixed martial arts experience, Lesnar entered the sport at an “advanced” age of 29.
Unfortunately, he battled diverticulitis while at the height of his MMA career. This required that the UFC set up an interim heavyweight belt while Lesnar remained inactive as champion.
After leaving the sport following a one-sided defeat at UFC 141, Lesnar retired from MMA. He quickly returned to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and became champion of the extremely violent—yet scripted—world of make-believe.
His contract, however, with the sports entertainment company ends in March 2015, right after WrestleMania XXXI. In a recent interview with Fox Sports, UFC President Dana White said this:
"Brock Lesnar’s under contract with the WWE. We have a great relationship with him. He’s healthy, and he has said that he’s interested in fighting again. We’ll see what happens.
"
However, as Lesnar remains with the WWE until the end of his contract, if the Minnesota native returns to the Octagon, he wouldn’t do so until he turned 38.
Irrespective of Lesnar’s good-health claims, not only is he “old” with reference to the sport in which he may wish to enact a second coming, even at his best, Lesnar’s skill set was highly limited.
Brock Lesnar: The Art of One Dimension
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Lesnar was perhaps one of the greatest and most accomplished one-dimensional fighters of all time. He is a former NCAA Division I wrestling champion and used his tremendous size advantage and athleticism to bully his opponents into submission, a la Heath Herring, Randy Couture and Frank Mir.
However, with reference to defeating Lesnar, Shane Carwin seemingly drew up a blueprint for the rest of the heavyweight division in his undisputed heavyweight championship matchup at UFC 116.
During the first round of their bout, Lesnar was unable to produce any semblance of stand-up offense and was incapable of bullying Carwin, whose size and strength matched those of Lesnar. The Minnesota native was beaten viciously and barely made it out of round one.
After Carwin punched himself out for the first five minutes of their matchup, Lesnar resorted to his wrestling roots, took his opponent down and locked on a head-and-arm choke at two minutes, 19 seconds of the second round.
He became the undisputed heavyweight champion that night, but the blueprint to his demise had already been created.
Therefore, Cain Velasquez and Alistair Overeem avoided being taken down in their matchups with Lesnar and utilized their superior striking to handily defeat the former champion.
Regarding the blueprint and Lesnar’s one-dimensional skill set, according to Marc Raimondi of Fox Sports, Carwin stated:
"I should have let him up and kept punching him in the head. Lesson learned. Cain learned it. If I didn’t make it obvious what to do to that guy, the next guy did.
[...]
He's (Lesnar) not going to improve the part of his game and he needs to improve in that short (amount) of time. The guys these days are too far ahead. You can't be one-dimensional. This isn't the early '90s.
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All in all, given Lesnar’s age, his heavily one-dimensional fighting style and health issues that robbed him of time at the height of his MMA career, a return to the Octagon would initially garner a substantial amount of money for the former champion and for the UFC.
However, cashing in on the cash cow that is Lesnar would be significantly short-lived.
Georges St-Pierre: Longevity
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St-Pierre, the longest-reigning welterweight in UFC history, indefinitely ended his career in 2013, vacating the title in the process. Ever since his departure, rumors have circulated around his return.
St-Pierre has always maintained an excellent physique, and he sports endless cardio. He is one of the most recognizable Canadians in the world and remains one of the most talked-about fighters in the UFC.
More than that, at 33 years old, the Canadian phenom could find himself competitive well into his late 30s.
In fact, St-Pierre was on a 12-fight win streak upon his exit from the UFC, and based on his track record, there is no reason to believe that he couldn’t cement himself even further into the annals of mixed martial arts history as the greatest welterweight champion of all time.
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Georges St-Pierre: The Super Athlete
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St-Pierre sports 25 wins and boasts the second-most title defenses in UFC history. He is arguably the most well-rounded fighter the MMA has ever seen.
Out of his wins, 12 have come by decision, eight by knockout and five via submission. He has beaten the likes of former world champions in Johny Hendricks, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, Jake Shields, B.J. Penn, Matt Serra and Matt Hughes.
A black belt in karate and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, during his career, St-Pierre’s wrestling reached such a high level that he once aspired to and heavily considered trying out for the Canadian Olympic wrestling team.
St-Pierre is anything but a one-dimensional fighter. He is a superb athlete who would continue to be a consistently lucrative product for the UFC.
Plus, White stated that the Canadian would be granted an immediate title shot if the former champion chose to return. According to Matt Parrino of UFC.com's The Download, White discussed GSP's potential return:
"It would be tough to deny that GSP comes right back and doesn’t fight for the title, you know what I mean? GSP can do whatever he wants. If he wants to come back and fight for the title, or if he wants a fight before that—he can do whatever he wants.
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While Lesnar’s return would garner an astronomical amount of money in the short run, St-Pierre’s supreme athleticism, well-rounded skill set and marketability lend themselves to a more consistent profit for the UFC for years to come.
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