Posted on 07/03/2010 10:06:01 PM PDT by pissant
LAS VEGAS — Brock Lesnar is back and better than ever.
Ultimate Fighting Championship’s biggest star —literally and figuratively — returned after nearly one year out of the Octagon to fend off his toughest opponent ever on Saturday night in the main event of UFC 116. Lesnar (5-1) survived an early barrage from interim champion Shane Carwin (12-1) before responding in the second round, using his championship-wrestling pedigree to take Carwin to the mat and eventually sink in a beautiful arm-triangle choke at 2:19 of the second round.
The 15,000 fans at the MGM Grand Garden Arena — standing from the moment the two entered the Octagon — erupted into deafening cheers, welcoming the heavyweight champion back with more support than he’s ever received before.
(Excerpt) Read more at vancouversun.com ...
perhaps. although there was a fatality just last week, so it’s not without risk. And it’s a relatively new sport, so we don’t know what these guys will look like in 20 years.
I only watched a couple minutes of one of the prelim fights on cable television, and I was impressed that a fighter slammed another fighter down - knocking him out, but held up delivering more punches because he saw that the other guy was unconscious. That showed real restraint because these guys are trained to exploit that opportunity. He could have really hurt the other guy because the ref was not in a really good position to stop the fight (in fact the ref seemed to suck - allowing one of the fighters to grab the cage for an extended period for example).
How about Cain Velasquez, Fedor, Nogueira, or Junior dos Santos? I’ve been competing and cornering in MMA for a long time now. Just because you are a TUF fanboy doesn’t mean that you know more about the sport than others. Brock isn’t the unstoppable monster that you think he is. He was exposed in this fight, whether you want to admit it or not.
This is what you said
“There are a lot of guys out there who would wipe the floor with either of these two”
COULD Cain or Fedor win? Of course, just like Werdum and Mir won vs Fedor and Lesnar...but that isn’t where the percentages lie. Carwin matched Lesnar’s size and power, the others do not.
You saying there are “A LOT” of guys who would “WIPE THE FLOOR” with “EITHER OF THESE TWO” was ridiculous, I don’t care if you run Dana White a bath 3 times a day or train with Randy Couture.
It isn’t that Lesnar is unbeatable, but he is clearly the favorite after withstanding Carwin’s punching ability and size.
Lesnar will only improve exponentially as a fighter as each fight goes by and as he recovers from his health issues....but MMA is a sport where one mental mistake can lead to disaster certainly. Fedor v Werdum summmed that one up. I just don’t see anyone other than maybe Fedor laying that kind of wood to Lesnar....and he still survived it. More likely he would get caught in a submission.
But the irrational Lesnar hate will continue...which will make him even more of a massive star and push UFC to the moon if he beats Cain and/or Dos Santos/Nelson. I guess they could do Lesnar Carwin 2 after that.
UFC does need to continue to beef up the Heavyweight Division though.
Even if people hate Lesnar and his background, he can take UFC, MMA and Dana to an entirely new level...and if he goes on a win streak, it will be an even bigger deal when he loses..especially if it makes a new star.
The interesting point will be when more 10-13 year olds start dreaming of becoming and actually training to become an MMA fighter rather than boxing...when those kids turn 28 the talent pool of the sport will be deeper and wider.
I’m with you dude. I swear the same Brock haters must come straight from the Sherdog forums to FR. I love how people make absolute judgments about whose cardio sucks and who would beat who. Much easier said than done. Lesnar showed heart and kept his wits while weathering the g&p of a guy with heavier hands than all others mentioned. No one is unbeatable in MMA because there are so many ways to lose a match, but Brock has the toughest all around package and would present a serious challenge for anybody in the sport.
In the early days of MMA you saw bigger guys losing to smaller guys because they were not familiar with the submission game. Now that the big dudes are more well rounded, size has it’s usual advantages.
Clueless huh?
I can admit when I’m wrong. I was wrong.
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