The Greatest MMA News Column 01.26.10: Brock's Back!

Posted by Dan Plunkett on 01.26.2010

In the return of The Greatest MMA News Column, 411's Dan Plunkett discusses the return of Brock Lesnar and his remarkable career so far. Plus, Don Frye's thoughts on James Toney, a preview of Strikeforce: Miami, thoughts the decision to push back UFC 113, and much more!

Brock's Back!

Nearly three months after pulling out of his heavyweight title defense with his fighting career in jeopardy, Brock Lesnar has announced that he is healthy and ready to return. The news was expected, but that shouldn't stop Lesnar, the UFC, and MMA fans everywhere from breathing a sigh of relief. It is widely acknowledged that Lesnar is the UFC's biggest star and drawing card, but Brock Lesnar isn't just a name.

Herschel Walker, Bob Sapp, Kimbo Slice, and Kim Couture are names. They are names used by promoters to garner attention for the events they put on. Brock Lesnar is a name. He is also however, an incredible fighter that can back up his name value.

Make no mistake about it, when Brock Lesnar made his UFC debut in February of 2008 he was a "freak show" attraction. Nobody knew how good of a mixed martial artist he was. All that was known about Lesnar as a fighter was that he had won an NCAA wrestling national championship, was very strong, and hadn't been training very long. Lesnar's only fight to that point had been a 61 second destruction over 3-7 Min Soo Kim. Had Brock Lesnar gone to the NFL instead of WWE and been a lower level lineman, he would have never gotten the chance to fight Frank Mir at UFC 81.

After college, Brock chose to sign with the WWE. He soon became their biggest star and youngest champion in history. When Lesnar wanted to fight in the UFC, they looked at how big of a star he was from his past career, how many fans he would bring over from the WWE to the UFC, and how big of a risk this move was. In hindsight, it wasn't a huge risk at all. Lesnar was getting paid a lot of money, but that would easily be covered by the number of new fans that would pay to see him fight. If he got destroyed and lost, it would only have made his opponent, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, a bigger star. Had Brock won, you point to his size, strength, wrestling background, great camp, and build him towards being your next huge star.

It didn't turn out either of those ways though. In fact, the result turned out far better than either of those scenarios. Lesnar dominated Mir for the first 85 seconds, and then Mir submitted Lesnar at the 90 second mark. Not only did it show that Lesnar had a world of potential, but it also revealed that Frank Mir is still a contender. And with that, the biggest rivalry in UFC history was born.



After his disappointing, yet impressive, debut at UFC 81, Lesnar dominated Heath Herring. Then he beat Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Title before avenging his loss to Frank Mir at UFC 100. Today, Brock Lesnar is a one of a kind fighter. Despite only five fights and less than three years in the sport, Brock Lesnar is widely regarded as the second best heavyweight in the world. His combination of power, speed, wrestling prowess, submission defense, and ability to control his opponents on the ground makes him a scary match-up for any fighter.

There are still some questions to be answered about Lesnar (How does his wrestling stack up against a guy like Cain Velasquez? Can he take a shot from Shane Carwin or the new and improved Frank Mir? Will his performance in his next fight be affected by his recent illness?) but there is no doubt he had one of the quickest rises to prominence in MMA history.

Looking back, there are five fighters that have had a very quick rise in the sport. They are Mark Kerr, Vitor Belfort, Randy Couture, Shogun Rua, and Brock Lesnar. I'm probably missing some, but these stick out to me for some reason. Kerr debuted in 1997 after years of wrestling experience and won his first 11 fights. By the end of 1998, Kerr was considered the top fighter in the world. Vitor Belfort started fighting in 1996 and made a name for himself by obliterating his first four opponents. That is, until he ran into Randy Couture. Couture entered MMA in 1997 and won the UFC Heavyweight Championship in his fourth fight; his quick adaption to the MMA game earned him the nickname "The Natural." Shogun made his debut in 2002. The only loss he suffered in his first three pro years came against Babalu Sobral in his fifth fight. The Brazilian then went to PRIDE and made a name for himself by winning the 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix. After defeating such fighters as Quinton Jackson, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Alistair Overeem, and Ricardo Arona, Shogun was considered the top light heavyweight in the world.

Where am I going with this you ask? All the time I hear or read people reminiscing about how good "The Phenom" Vitor Belfort was with so little experience; in fact, he's still heavily promoted on a reputation he built for himself in 1997. People bring up all the time how Shogun decisively beat four top light heavyweights only three years into his career. I am constantly reminded that Randy Couture defeated an unstoppable Vitor Belfort before winning the heavyweight title in the fourth fight of his career. What I don't usually hear is how Brock Lesnar is doing the things Vitor Belfort, Shogun Rua, and Randy Couture did today.

Following his victory over Frank Mir, Brock Lesnar looks every bit as unstoppable as people thought a young Vitor was. Lesnar defeated three top heavyweights (Herring was top 15) in the span of 11 months, somewhat like Shogun did in 2005 (though I admit to a lesser extent). Much like Couture, Lesnar won the heavyweight title in his fourth fight. Unlike Couture, Lesnar won his fifth fight.

For as much as MMA fans criticize Lesnar for his antics, WWE past, and making up for his assumed lack of technique with brute strength, you cannot deny that his career thus far has been nothing short of remarkable. So while you may hate Brock Lesnar for a variety of reasons, take some time to think about how incredible he truly is. While it's fun to think back about how good someone used to be, it's even better to realize how good someone is. Mark Kerr started off 11-0, today he is 15-11 with 1 no contest. The lesson? Enjoy it while it lasts.

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Jim Rome gives his thoughts on Brock Lesnar…

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Don Frye Isn't a Big Fan of James Toney

Here's what "The Predator" had to say: "I tell you what: Anybody who fights an [expletive] like James Toney or Herschel Walker or Jose Canseco or any of them other [expletives] that come into our sport at their age should be required to take them down and break as many bones as possible on them and keep them crippled for six to eight weeks. I'd break both their [expletive] arms so they'd have to hire somebody to wipe their ass for the next six to eight weeks. It should be a requirement."

Firstly, Don Frye is among the greatest human beings in the history of mankind. Secondly, I only posted this so I could have an excuse to watch this again:

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Strikeforce: Miami

Strikeforce holds its first event of the New Year this weekend and I can't wait to see the top three fights on the card. Nick Diaz vs. Marius Zaromskis is a very interesting fight. Diaz has opted to box in his last couple fights, in which he threw approximately 243545423 punches, and it has been a successful endeavor. Zaromskis has ended three consecutive fights with a head kick; if he keeps that up, he'll become the Joe DiMaggio of MMA. I favor Diaz in the fight, but Zaromskis is a very live underdog.

Speaking of underdogs, Marloes Coenen is a huge one against (female) Cyborg Santos. The +425 line is probably so large because people are far more familiar with the champion, which happens sometimes. While Cyborg vs. Carano was pretty sloppy, it was still an exciting, back and forth fight. I don't expect this to be any different.

Along with the main event, I'm most excited to see Melvin Manhoef's Strikeforce debut on Saturday. Monhoef is a great striker coming off a huge win over Kazuo Misaki on New Year's Eve. His opponent on Saturday, Robbie Lawler, is a top middleweight looking to rebound from a loss to Jake Shields. If Lawler chooses to stand with Manhoef, he's going to get knocked out. If he's smart and takes Manhoef down, he should be able to get the submission victory.

Also on the main card is a squash match featuring Bobby Lashley, and an I-don't-know-what-the-hell—will-happen fight with Herschel Walker. Lashley is going to destroy Wes Sims. If somehow Sims pulls off the upset, I think we can stop with the Brock Lesnar comparisons. I think 47-year-old Herschel Walker will win on Saturday, but I have no idea how.

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UFC 113 Pushed Back to May 8

With the Floyd Mayweather vs. Shane Mosely boxing match most likely taking place on May 1, the UFC has pushed back the date of UFC 113. Apparently, they weren't too thrilled with the buyrate of UFC 103, which went head-to-head with Mayweather's last bout.

Even though Mayweather-Mosely will probably do about a million buys just a week prior, UFC 113 should do well on PPV. UFC 104 did 500,000 buys, which featured the first fight between Machida and Shogun. The rematch is bound to garner even more fan interest; not to mention Kimbo Slice will be making his UFC PPV debut on the card against Matt Mitrione. Until we get closer to the event, it will be tough to predict how many buys it will do, but I'd bet it will surpass UFC 104's total.

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There's not much news this week, so here's Melvin Manhoef vs. (male) Cyborg Santos as a filler:

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Thanks for reading. If you somehow noticed The Greatest MMA News Column was absent the past two weeks, the first time was due to computer problems, and the second due to a personal matter. You can leave feedback in the comment box or at the e-mail address below. If you so please, you can also follow me on Twitter.