UFC 141: 5 Reasons Brock Lesnar Is No Longer PPV King

Brock Lesnar is only days away from returning inside the Octagon, but don’t expect the former champ to sell a lot of pay-per-view buys like he has in the past.

With UFC 141 this Friday and Lesnar being the headliner, the buzz surrounding this event is awfully quiet. Are MMA fans sick of Lesnar? No pun intended, but I believe they are.

I wasn’t expecting it to be hyped up like UFC 100 or anything, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think it would get a tremendous amount of coverage like UFC 116 did.

Both PPVs were headlined by the former PPV king, but I’m not sure if Lesnar still possesses the star power he once had.

In Lesnar’s fight against Frank Mir at UFC 100, the buy rates were estimated around 1.6 million. Then when Lesnar fought Shane Carwin at UFC 116, the buy rates were a little over one million buys, and Lesnar’s last fight against Cain Velasquez at UFC 121 did over a million buys as well.

But I’m being completely honest when I say that I don’t think this PPV will get over a million buys or maybe even 500,000 buys. 

That's the brutal truth, and these are the five reasons why Lesnar is no longer the UFC’s PPV king.

No Longer the “Baddest Dude on the Planet”

Let me take you back to the night of July 11, 2009. You know, the night when people were claiming that Brock Lesnar was the “baddest dude on the planet.”

Lesnar had just defeated arch rival Frank Mir in dominating fashion at UFC 100, with fans and the media jumping on his bandwagon.

Lesnar went on a rant about Coors Light and talked about getting on top of his wife, and that’s when I knew a superstar was born.

Knowing that the battle against Mir was for the title of “baddest man on the planet,” and seeing his antics after the fight, I thought UFC president Dana White finally found his cash cow.

Lesnar’s next fight against Shane Carwin proved that, too, as that event generated an incredible amount of hype, and the event delivered.

I knew as long as Lesnar could state that claim and keep that meat-head mentality in his interviews, he would be a PPV leader for the rest of his career.

Well, after being humbled by both Diverticulitis and Cain Velasquez, Lesnar can no longer state that claim, and his popularity will suffer from it.

Exposed

Brock Lesnar no longer being the “baddest dude on the planet” will affect his ability to draw PPV buys, but the biggest reason why fans aren’t buying into this monster is because he’s been exposed.

In the same way that Forrest Griffin’s chin has been exposed against fighters with knockout power, Lesnar has been exposed for some sloppy striking skills, and that’s putting it nicely.

In Lesnar’s last fight against Cain Velasquez, Velasquez took it to him with some vicious punches and knees and put Lesnar on queer street.

We all know that Lesnar has some of the best wrestling in the sport, but his chin and his striking are below average.

This has turned a lot of fans off, because they know if he doesn’t get the fight to the ground and turn it into a wrestling match, Lesnar’s going to lose.

Take this fight against Alistair Overeem Friday. Lesnar is going to come out and pressure Overeem to try and get the takedown, and if he fails, he falls. It’s as simple as that, and the casual fans are starting to catch on.

Can’t Stay Healthy Enough

I absolutely hate to see athletes miss time because of health issues, but that’s just what’s happened with Brock Lesnar over the past two years.

Since November of 2008, Lesnar has only fought inside the Octagon four times because of his battle with Diverticulitis. It’s a shame, and I believe it’s hurt his popularity.

If a fighter is constantly on the shelf, their popularity can’t benefit from that.

Haven’t we Seen this Story Before?

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Brock Lesnar is fighting a rare disease called Diverticulitis.

It’s a disease that has put him on the shelf for more than a year, and he’s making his comeback fight against a fighter who has an incredible amount of knockout power.

The guy he’s fighting is also just as big as he is and...you get the point. MMA fans already saw this last year when Lesnar fought against Shane Carwin, and that fight ended miraculously.

There’s no way Lesnar can top getting beat down in the first round and rallying to pull off a submission victory in the second round. That might explain the lack of coverage by ESPN and various networks.

Everyone knows that sequels are never as good as the originals, so there’s some hesitation from fans getting overly excited about Lesnar’s second return.

GSP, Jon Jones and the New Breed

The new breed of MMA is taking over.

Instead of falling in love with characters like Chuck Liddell, Quintin “Rampage” Jackson, Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar, more and more fans are starting to fall in love with the sport and the new fighters on the scene.

Fans who will tune in to watch Lesnar fight Friday will fall in love with guys like Nam Phan, Alexander Gustafsson, Nate Diaz and Donald Cerrone because of their athleticism and exciting styles.

With the platform that Fox gives them, it’s only a matter of time before exciting young athletes like Dominick Cruz, Jose Aldo and Michael McDonald become household names.

But as far as PPV King goes, I think you have to give that title to George St-Pierre now. No matter the fighting style he presents, GSP has always been a hot ticket in MMA, and fans know that they’re tuning in to see the best when they watch him fight.

The same goes for Jon Jones, and I believe you’ll start to see Anderson Silva’s buy rates go up as fans are starting to really appreciate him.

Lesnar’s days as being the PPV king in the UFC are numbered. This new generation is just far more exciting than the ol’ meat-head gimmick.