Brock Lesnar Is Fighting Alistair Overeem...In a No. 1 Contender Fight?!?!

Well, the UFC has gone and done it this time: Today, the UFC announced that on December 30, 2011, former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar will square off with Alistair Overeem in Las Vegas as the main event of UFC 141, with the winner getting a crack at the winner of the Cain Velasquez/Junior dos Santos fight on November 12—the UFC's premier event on Fox.

This is wrong! Just plain wrong! 

Why is it wrong? For starters, this will be Lesnar's first fight since he was manhandled by Cain Velasquez, the fight that he lost in an embarrassing Round 1 TKO. From the opening bell, Lesnar was never really in the fight.

The massacre at the hands of Velasquez came on the heels of Lesnar's victory over Shane Carwin. Sure, Brock won this fight and, in doing so, showed a great deal of heart. At least to this writer, Lesnar showed that he really wanted to succeed in the MMA. 

In this fight as well, Brock was dominated in the first round. I'd venture to say that if the rounds in the UFC were 5-10 seconds long, that you wouldn't be reading this article right now. That's how close the fight came to being stopped. 

I, for one, would not have given it a second thought if the referee had actually stopped that fight.  However, he did not. Lesnar recovered between rounds, winked at Carwin as the two met for the start of Round 2 and a couple of minutes later Lesnar's arm was raised in victory—a victory achieved by submission, via an arm triangle choke.

It was just the sixth fight of Lesnar's career. 

In his fourth professional fight, his third with the UFC, Lesnar beat Randy Couture for the heavyweight title. 

To say that Lesnar is green is an understatement. With only seven professional fights and five wins, two of which were against Min Soo Kim, owner of a 3-7 career record, and Heath Herring who has compiled a 28-14 career record in the MMA. Of Herring's 28 wins, his most impressive was his split-decision victory over Cheick Kong in March 2008, five months before squaring off with Lesnar.

Enough said there.   

Lesnar doesn't have the experience or the skill set, not at this point in his career at least, to be considered a legitimate heavyweight contender. 

You can't argue with his size and speed though, as he is big, strong and fast. There is no doubting that the potential is there. I don't even doubt that he will, at some point in the future, reach that potential and probably exceed it. Lesnar may very well end up being the most dominant heavyweight that the UFC has ever seen.

However, that time is not now. He simply needs more experience.

Lesnar is arguably the UFC's most popular fighter, and surely one of their biggest pay-per-view draws. His fan base is vast, which is certainly known to those in charge of the UFC.

I don't believe the UFC should penalize him for being a fan favorite, which, in essence, is what they are doing. The UFC is continuously putting him into fights with more seasoned fighters—fighters who have been fighting and training for years longer than Lesnar. The reason for such rapid progression, I'd have to believe, is dollars and cents. Lesnar helps to sell pay-per-view events. In fact, Lesnar is one of the biggest PPV draws that the organization has ever had.

I'm not saying anything against the UFC and Zuffa—clearly Dana White and the other powers-that-be know what they are doing. This organization is wildly successful, despite facing formidable odds of their own. All I'm saying is that to keep putting Lesnar into these situations as an inexperienced fighter is not the best way to grow the Lesnar brand and increase his popularity.

Plain and simple, Brock Lesnar needs more time and experience in the octagon before he can truly be considered an elite heavyweight who can deal with the likes of Cain Velasquez, Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos and the other elite heavyweights of the world. 

This isn't to say that I believe that Lesnar will not beat the more-seasoned Overeem. With Lesnar's size and speed, he can never be discounted. 

What I do believe is that Lesnar has no business being one win away from a title shot. He doesn't have the ability to warrant it, and he certainly doesn't have the body of work in the octagon to warrant it. 

But just like everyone else, I'll be tuning in to see how the main event of the evening pans out.