What's The Big Hatred With Brock Lesnar?

I’ve been seeing and reading many articles on the recent events of UFC Heavyweight Champion, Brock Lesnar. Now I’ve felt compelled to share my views, and hopefully clarify some queries that are floating around regarding Brock Lesnar and his legitimacy.

First and for-most we all know that Lesnar was the former face of World Wrestling Entertainment. He had performed there from 2002 till the year of 2004. After a short stint with the Minnesota Vikings, he went back to pro-wrestling and performed in New Japan Pro-Wrestling till late 2006.

He made a transition to MMA in 2007 and with his debut man-handled and pummelled a less than credible opponent in Min-Soo-Kim.

Then in February 2008 he made his UFC debut against former UFC Heavyweight Champ, Frank Mir. Although Lesnar lost in the first minute and 30 seconds of the bout some claim that Lesnar would have had the match won, if Referee, Steve Mazzagatti did not stand them up for Lesnar’s inadvertent punch to the back of the head. In my view, there were no excuses, Lesnar showed no composure, and paid the price of trying to use brute force against a technical fighter like Mir.

At this point, many hardcore UFC fans resented and even hated Lesnar. Many perceive the man as a “big oaf” with a giant “penis” tattooed on his chest, and has no business being in the UFC never mind with a former champ.

His next bout was in August of the same year, were he fought the veteran in Heath Herring, which I thought was a dominating performance by Brock. He controlled every aspect of the fight he paced himself and didn’t let himself get carried away. Even though he beat Heath Herring, who happen to defeat rising star Chieck Kongo, I don’t think it cemented his standing as a credible fighter, amongst UFC’s elite fighters.

Then the bombshell was dropped. Lesnar had a title opportunity against future hall-of-famer, Randy “the natural” Couture. Now this is where I find most hardcore fans to be hypercritical, because many  of these people are stating that Lesnar doesn’t deserve a title fight, which is true, I’m not disputing that, but the fact of the matter is, these fans are saying “Lesnar has only had 3 bouts prior to this match up”. So I did some research on his opponent and found something out which is very interesting. Randy Couture had a similar opportunity which offered him a title match after he had his 4th fight (one more than Lesnar). So things like this HAVE happened before, so we can’t make out its special treatment for Lesnar, because Couture has had the exact same type of treatment.

I was one of the people that thought, Couture would wear Lesnar down exactly like what he did with Gonzaga. To my amazement I was wrong, Lesnar won the bout via TKO in the 2^nd round to become the new UFC Heavyweight Champion and I thought, “Yeah he’s beaten somebody with good credentials, he could be a force to be reckoned with” But surprisingly these newly found “Brock Haters” was disputing that it was Lesnar’s sheer size that won him the match. Now I strongly disagree with that statement and I shall explain why.

Firstly Lesnar did indeed try to use his weight to his advantage but if I remember correctly there wasn’t a substantial amount of damage to Couture while he was on the canvas in the first round, and Randy is known for his conditioning, so he definitely had plenty of reserve in the gas tank.

Now in the 2^nd round Lesnar didn’t even get a takedown, and Randy had Lesnar up against the cage to use his Greco-roman wrestling ability to wear LESNAR down, not Randy! My point is, Lesnar size wasn’t THE factor of his victory, because like many other fights, Randy was working his game plan, and he got caught.

Let’s face it, it’s not the first time Couture fought bigger opponents than himself. He fought Tim Sylvia but did people think of the weight factor in that fight? No, because Sylvia doesn’t have the knowledge to use his weight like Lesnar does. Did these people use it in the Gonzaga fight? No, because Couture’s stand up and quickness was too much for the Brazilian to handle. Case in point, the size factor was brought up because Lesnar knows how to throw his weight, not because Randy’s a small heavyweight.

Then Lesnar got the chance to face Mir and avenge his loss. I was one to jump on Mir’s technical band wagon, thinking that Mir’s dangerous guard would prove too much for Lesnar to cope with. But Lesnar did emerge victorious after a brutal display of ground and pound, to proclaim the unified UFC Heavyweight Championship. But yet again these same “hardcore” UFC fans claim that Lesnar still has no talent, because he laid on Mir the entire match.

Lesnar’s tactic (and that’s what it was, a TACTIC) was to prevent Mir from gaining position to lock in the submission. Mir made it very clear he was looking for the submission. Lesnar’s size was a factor in this match, I’m not suffering from any delusions but before all “Brock Haters” say “you said yourself Lesnar used his size to beat Mir, therefore no talent!”  I would like to point this out, if Mir was so concerned about Lesnar’s size (which he clearly wasn’t) why would he come in at 10 pounds lighter, than he did than in his first bout with Lesnar?

Mir in his first bout in Feb 2008 weighed in at 255, and then in the re-match Mir weighed in at 245. If size was such a factor, surely he would have remained the same weight, or better yet, gained weight? Case in point if the “debut” Lesnar faced the 245 pound Frank Mir, Mir would have still won the fight, regardless of Brock’s size. Lesnar won the re-match, because he’s now knowledgeable of his own advantages and how to use them in the most effective way possible.

 Finally we come to the most recent event to date, Lesnar’s rendezvous with UFC contender Shane Carwin. Now all the Brock Haters have quickly jumped on the Carwin band wagon, because they want to see Lesnar drop, not because they want Carwin as the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

Shane Carwin was originally scheduled to fight Cain Velasquez, which many people were uncertain about the outcome, which I find intriguing, due to the fact of people seem to think despite Cain’s size at 240 pounds, he will be able to match and out work Shane Carwin.

Then Carwin’s new opponent was Lesnar, and then suddenly Carwin’s size may prove to be too much for Lesnar. Now there’s couple of things here that don’t add up. Velasquez weighs in at around 240, and fight around the same weight, and people are giving Velasquez tough competition for Carwin. (I agree with this statement totally). But yet people make out Lesnar is nothing but a stepping stone for Carwin because of his size, do you see the hypocrisy?

I’ve seen several articles that Carwin walks around at 285 pounds. Now if you watch the fight between Carwin and Neil, you hear Mike Goldberg say “Carwin did a bit of a Brock Lesnar, he had to lose some pounds to make the weight limit” He lost 4 pounds to make to 265 weight limit and until recently, the UFC website said he weighed 262 pounds, which tells anyone who can do math, that he usually walked around 266 pounds.

Now Lesnar walks around at a near 300 pounds and about 285 on fight night. Add Cain’s wrestling credentials and add a tonne of weight. Surely this is a bigger challenge for Carwin, rather than Lesnar because Carwin, for the first time in his career, is facing someone larger than himself. In theory Carwin will only win via TKO stoppage or KO, as his stand up will be most effective if he can get past Lesnar’s 81inch reach. Carwin will not out wrestle Lesnar, guaranteed.

The fight was originally scheduled for 23rd Novemeber 2009, but Lesnar’s “illness” pushed the bout back to what was announced by Carwin on twitter to January of 2010.

As soon as Lesnar’s illness was announced, people were quickly assuming that the man was scared of Carwin and that Lesnar wouldn’t be able to match up with someone with a similar physique as his own. I was in two minds about this statement. I didn’t know what to believe.

Then it was announced, Lesnar has mononucleosis, better known as the “kissing disease” or Pfeiffer’s disease. Anyone who is familiar with the disease will know the effects it has on the body. One of these effects is severe fatigue.

What would be the point in Lesnar relinquishing the title then having the excuse to fall back on, that at the time he was suffering from mononucleosis, it would result in more internet MMA fans arguing.

Mononucleosis sufferers are advised not to do anything too physical as this can cause splenic rupture. Brock Lesnar being in a very much physical and contact sport, is unable to train, let alone participate in an event. The effects can last up six weeks, so Lesnar will no doubt not resume training until late December right?

Wrong, things went bad to worse for the Champion, when it emerged that on November 14th Brock Lesnar had suddenly collapsed and been rushed to hospital. Later it was announced that Lesnar was suffering from and intestinal disease called Diverticulitis. It has been reported that Lesnar’s undergone surgery and is now re-cooperating swiftly at home.

Heavy rumours started spreading that Lesnar contracted the disease from steroid use (probably ignited by brock haters.) But research shows that the cause of the disease is

My instincts tell me the bout between Lesnar and Carwin will be held in late March / early April and probably the winner of the bout will face either Cain Velasquez or Antonia Rodrigo Nogueira. Unless a mini interim tournament between; Carwin, Velasquez, Nogueira and the winner between Kongo and Mir, is held.

 Personally I would prefer Velasquez to face Lesnar, as I would like to see Lesnar handle the pressure that Velasquez would present.

 In conclusion to this article, I feel that many UFC fans resent Lesnar purely based upon his WWE background and that no amount of wins, or how good his record may seem, will ever win over, some of the stubborn fans that the world of MMA holds.

Thanks for Reading!

Ryan Wilson

{This article is based upon expressing ones opinion only and isn’t intended to be offensive or derogatory in any shape or form.}