Brock Lesnar: Are His Chances Better in the UFC or Strikeforce?

By being relatively inexperienced in MMA and combat sports in general, Brock Lesnar is at a major disadvantage when it comes to the things he is forced to learn on the job.

That includes taking a punch and responding correctly and establishing a pace where you can be relaxed and fight effectively at. Not knowing these things will result in more losses than wins for most fighters who do not have the in-the-cage experience dealing with them.

As Lesnar looks to climb back into the heavyweight title picture, many fans are wondering if he can make a successful return against his next opponent, dangerous striker Junior Dos Santos. His chances are a lot better than you may think. He'd probably much rather face Santos than the Strikeforce heavyweight champion, Alistair Overeem.

Both Overeem and Santos are destroyers on their feet, but Overeem possesses more than just a punch. He is devastatingly effective with his knees and kicks and is super powerful in the clinch.

The question many fans have is how would he fare against the elite of the Strikeforce heavyweight division in comparison to the UFC heavyweights? When you go down the list fight by fight, his chances are so close, it's hard to choose.

The top UFC heavyweights—Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, Roy Nelson, Frank Mir, Rodrigo Nogueira and Shane Carwin—are all legitimately threatening, but Fedor Emelianenko, Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum are just as threatening.

Comparably, Werdum and Mir have two of the most dangerous guards in the heavyweight division and in MMA. So who has the better chances of defeating Lesnar? It has to be Mir. He already holds a win over Lesnar, and his chances are better on the feet than Werdum's. Werdum has effective leg kicks, but Mir has the overall striking game that could win him the fight if it ever happens again.

Cain Velasquez, who is well rounded and has cardio for days, this is one of the worst matchups Lesnar could possibly have. Dedication to improvement and overall ability to use what you know effectively is something Velasquez has mastered. It's going to be a long time before Lesnar is able to deal with a fighter like Velasquez and look decent, much less win.

Lesnar's chances against Fedor Emelianenko aren't good, but they are better than against Velasquez. If Fedor does end up on his back, and he probably would at some point, Lesnar would have to get him out of there quickly or end up on the wrong side of an arm-bar.

If Lesnar does win his next fight, he will be thrown right into a championship fight with Velasquez. It's a hard position to be in, and Lesnar isn't afraid to take on the challenge. Fans should respect him for that.