Here Comes the Pain: Brock Lesnar Joins the UFC

Remember when there was a 295-pound nightmare from Minnesota in the WWE? Well, that time has returned once again.

After several stints in Japan and a flopped tryout with the Minnesota Vikings, former WWE and IWGP Champion Brock Lesnar returns stateside to unleash his raw power in the Octagon.

UFC President Dana White has made the announcement that Lesnar will make his official UFC debut on the eve of Super Bowl XLII at UFC’s next pay per view, Breaking Point. His opponent, Frank Mir, is already well known in the UFC, especially for breaking Tim Sylvia’s arm during a fight.

During UFC Fight Night Live on Wednesday night, Lesnar made it clear that he wasn’t the least bit intimidated about facing Mir.  Can you really blame him?

With all due respect to Mir, Lesnar has been training for this moment for a little over a year.  Now, he gets his chance to prove himself. In case anyone forgot, Lesnar is a multiple-time amateur wrestling champion and, despite the obvious truth about professional wrestling, the Japanese take their style of wrestling very seriously.

Lesnar debuted with the WWE right around the end of the WWF Attitude Era and the lawsuit that soon followed involving the wrestling conglomerate and the World Wildlife Federation. During the transition from WWF to WWE, Lesnar made several appearances on WWE programming before finally debuting in the ring en route to becoming the WWE Champion.

After multiple reigns and a long publicized rivalry with fellow amateur wrestling champion Kurt Angle, Lesnar ended his WWE career with a loss to another former football star, Bill Goldberg, at Wrestlemania XX.

Following contract disputes with WWE, Lesnar tried out for the Minnesota Vikings and made it through training camp, only to be cut during the preseason. After that, not much was heard of the man formerly known as 'The Next Big Thing.'

Lesnar did, owever, make his way to Japan and join New Japan Pro Wrestling. It didn’t take him long to become the IWGP Heavyweight Champion, but he clearly had a bigger calling.

Following another loss to Kurt Angle last year, it became clear that Lesnar was having trouble finding his true sport calling. After failed stints with the WWE and Minnesota Vikings, Lesnar started training to become a cage fighter.

The IWGP didn’t admire his decision and forced him to make a choice between them and the cage. It was a simple choice for Lesnar, who left New Japan and continued his training to fight in the Octagon.

This brings us to present day. As many of us prepare for the best Super Bowl in years, as well as the worst Super Bowl halftime show since the Janet Jackson incident, many lovers of ultimate fighting will be given quite a show as two men who are known for winning at all costs lock up in the Octagon.

Of course, there are those who are skeptic on whether Lesnar has what it takes to win in UFC, but, with the exception of the Vikings experiment, Lesnar has found success in everything he has tried.

This actually works out well for all parties involved. The UFC loses Randy Couture to retirement, but gains another experienced striker and grappler in Brock Lesnar. Mir has been relatively mute about his chances of handing Lesnar a loss in his debut to UFC.

Lesnar, conversely, was never one to actually talk a big game; he just backed it up.

On February 2^nd, from the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Frank Mir returns to the Octagon to face Brock Lesnar. In the interest of fairness, I wonder what Kurt Angle thinks about his longtime rival succeeding where he failed. I guess we’ll all find out next weekend if 'The Next Big Thing' has what it takes to become an Ultimate Fighter.