Lesnar On the Verge
Posted by Jon Grilz on August 4th, 2008Matt Hughes (42-7), “Hammer” Mark Coleman (15-8), Fighters.com’s sixth-ranked heavyweight “The Natural” Randy Couture (16-8), and, someday, Brock Lesnar (1-1) will be able to add his name to the list of wrestlers who’ve become mixed martial arts champions.
But, he will never be a mixed martial artist.
Lesnar started wrestling at the age of five in South Dakota. Raised on a farm and having two older brothers, Lesnar was no stranger to toil or combat. Wrestling soon became his passion, one that he carried all the way to junior college at Bismark State College.
According to Lesnar in a recent interview with Ultimate Grappling, “I think my record for four years of college was 136-9. My freshman year I placed fifth in the national tournament. My sophomore year, I was junior college national champion. Then I went to the University of Minnesota where I was Big 10 champion.”
Lesnar went on to place second in the Division I National Tournament, then, the following year, avenged his loss and became the Division I National Heavyweight Wrestling Champion.
From there, Lesnar made the decision to pursue a life in the WWE, becoming the youngest Heavyweight Champion in WWE history.
For 25 years, Brock Lesnar has lived wrestling. He has found levels of success that few will ever be able to attain. He has tasted both victory and defeat, though the former seems to suit Lesnar far better.
When Lesnar made his debut in mixed martial arts it was against “Mr. Shark” Min Soo Kim (3-6) at K-1 Hero’s Dynamite!! Lesnar ended the fight on strikes from mount in little over a minute.
When announced that Lesnar would face former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir (11-3) in Lesnar’s UFC debut, the question was, “Can Lesnar beat a BJJ black belt?”
Nope; at least, not yet.
Lesnar had a fatal flaw that has been exploited for as long as the UFC has existed: Brazilian jiu-jistu.
On 2 February, millions of MMA fans tuned in to UFC 81 and watched the highly touted heavyweight Lesnar get tapped by former Mir via knee bar in 1:30 of the first round.
Critics of Lesnar and his move to mixed martial arts were elated. The man that many viewed as being a potential, or even inevitable, champ was swiftly defeated due to a simple error against a black belt in BJJ.
The defeat showed a chink in the armor of a man that is one of the fastest and strongest men in MMA. Lesnar did what wrestlers tend to do early in their MMA careers: they fight like wrestlers.
If Lesnar had been training BJJ under Pedro Sauer black belt Greg Nelson at Minnesota Martial Arts Academy, it wasn’t apparent in that fight. Lesnar would have to go back to the drawing board.
To help his BJJ training, Lesnar has enlisted the help of BJJ black belt “Comprido” Rodrigo Medeiros. Medeiros is a former seven-time BJJ world champion as well as the 2007 super heavyweight Pan American Gi and No-Gi champion.
Even a man as large and skilled as Medeiros had to admit to Lesnar’s prowess, “His strength is really extraordinary. But he’s so aware of that that during training he uses very little strength. I think few in MMA wouldn’t get taken down by him in seconds.”
Lesnar seems to be taking his BJJ training seriously after his loss.
However, there was still more criticism. Lesnar rushed out of the corner like a man on a mission and, arguably, put himself in position to lose. Will he be able to control himself and be patient during a fight?
During an in-studio interview at a Minnesota rock station on 26 July, Lesnar addressed that concern, ” [At UFC 81] I was way way anxious. I got very sloppy. It was my first fight and I wanted to end it quick. I wanted to end it fast. This fight is going to be different. I’ve got 15 minutes, not saying it’s going to take that long. Everyone has got to learn from their mistakes.”
Lesnar’s maturity after his loss and near invisibility in his recent months of training seem to indicate that Lesnar is taking MMA seriously.
It is yet to be seen if Lesnar is a changed man or a changed fighter. However, as a man who has showed a lifetime of victory in competition, it would be unwise to assume that Lesnar will so easily forget his defeat or his BJJ training in hopes for a early win.
Having said that, it would also be unwise for Lesnar to abandon the thing that has brought him so much success outside of the Octagon.
Some of the UFC’s best fighters and champions have relied on their wrestling skills including “Muscle Shark” Sean Sherk (32-3-1), Josh Koscheck (13-2), Hughes, and Couture.
Brock Lesnar is a wrestler and always will be. After such a short time of training striking and BJJ, Lesnar will still be a wrestler, but a well versed, patient wrestler.
There is no shame in that.
Especially when that day comes that he once again gets to feel a championship belt around his waist.
mistacee1 said:
Lesnar is a big strong guy and looked like he was going to finish Mir with punches, but goes to show you how quick the tables can turn if your game isnt what is should be fighting a guy with as much experiance as Mir. Any picks on Lesnar vs Herring?????
Pyjammez said:
I’m going to go with Herring. I reckon he has the experience to pwn Lesnar.
duj said:
Lesnar by TKO in the first!Herring has a wealth of expierance but looked what happened when he fought Jake O’brien.Lesnar is way bigger and stronger and a better wrestler than O’Brien.Herring isn’t gonna know what ran him over!!!
zoskia said:
MMA math is stupid… Just because a fighter can beat another fighter means nothing about how they are going to be against someone else. This fight is simple, if Lesner trains mma and not just wrestling, I think he has a chance but if not, Herring is going to TKO him. Herring has a tendency to be make ignorant decisions in the ring so maybe Lesner will have that going for him. Hopefully, Herring won’t knock him out and then get the medics to bring out the smelling salts so the fight can continue.
Chad Edward said:
There are several “ifs” in this match-up. Lesnar failed his last big “if” versus Mir. Herring is a +210 underdog. I’d take those odds.
Kevin said:
Good article John. Well written
joesmailer said:
Agreed, I enjoyed this one.
traydawg said:
loved this piece. I am way stoked for this fight. If what I believe about Brock is true, he should pound Herring en route to stoppage.