Brock Lesnar: Larry Merchant's Jabs at Former UFC Champ Justified

Brock Lesnar has been hearing criticism from mixed martial arts fans and analysts for the last four years. The former UFC heavyweight champion has always handled it well. Now, thanks to UFC president Dana White, he is the victim of more criticism from Hall of Fame boxing analyst Larry Merchant.

The controversial boxing announcer made headlines two weeks ago when he was interviewing Floyd Mayweather after his fight with Victor Ortiz. Mayweather said he did not want to do an interview with Merchant and told him to go get someone else if they wanted an interview.

Merchant responded by saying that "if he was 50 years younger, he would kick [Mayweather's] ass."

White, who is a big boxing fan, was asked about the situation between Merchant and Mayweather and said that Merchant's actions were "embarrassing."

Merchant was asked about White's comments in an interview recently. He did not hold back as he threw haymakers at the sport of mixed martial arts, and Brock Lesnar in particular, though he didn't mention Lesnar's name.

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Anyone who can make a multimillion dollar business out of street fighting has to be respected. My opinion is that anyone is allowed to put up a tent, put on a shot and invite people to come. And obviously he's had a lot of success. Good for him; I don't watch it. I don't get a so-called sport in which you can have a 6-2 record and be called a world champion.

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Ignoring the shots Merchant takes at mixed martial arts because he clearly does not understand the sport, his criticism of Lesnar is valid.

Lesnar was handed the keys to the UFC heavyweight division because of his name and the fact that he sold a lot of pay-per-views.

He did nothing in the Octagon to justify being called one of the best mixed martial artists in the world. When you look at the fighters that he has beaten, it is a mediocre list. The names look good, but guys that he beat were well past their prime at the time he defeated them.

His best victory, over Shane Carwin at UFC 116, was so close to being a loss because he was getting pummeled in the first round of that fight. And if another referee was in the cage for that fight, it might have been stopped.

The reality of the situation is that the heavyweight division in UFC was not particularly deep at the time Lesnar arrived, so he did benefit greatly from being in the right place at the right time.

I don't agree with Merchant's comments about the sport of mixed martial arts and UFC, but he has a point with his not-so-subtle dig at Lesnar.