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Brock Lesnar smiles after defeating Frank Mir in their heavyweight title fight at UFC 100. Lesnar won with stoppage in the second round.
Sunday, July 12, 2009 | 8 a.m.
The Next Great Champion?
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With Brock Lesnar beating Frank Mir by second-round knockout to become the undisputed heavyweight champion, the question can now be asked, who can defeat Lesnar?
Wrapped Up in Wrestling
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After his antics following his TKO of Frank Mir in the heavyweight title fight in Saturday night's UFC 100, many wonder whether Brock Lesnar has completely left his old WWE ways behind.
UFC 100
- Complete UFC 100 coverage
- Brock Lesnar: Can anyone beat this man?
- St. Pierre dominant despite injury
- UFC co-owner addresses fans at Expo
- Love story leads to UFC
- Lesnar wins, puts on WWE-style show afterward
- Win or lose — Mir a class act
- 702.tv: All-In: UFC 100
- Punchy Points: Key aspects about UFC 100
- Interactive Timeline: UFC Countdown: 1 to 100
Following Brock Lesnar's dominating win over Frank Mir, UFC president Dana White must have been feeling pretty good.
The milestone of UFC 100 had enjoyed a terrific fight card, concluding with the highly anticipated heavyweight rematch that ended with TKO fireworks from Lesnar in the second round.
Yes sir, the night had gone incredibly well.
That is until Lesnar celebrated his win by screaming at Mir, drenching a nearby camera with spit from his mouthpiece, insulting the event's sponsor, Bud Light, and flipping the bird to the entire sellout crowd.
"Brock went so far over the top tonight, I can't even describe it," White said. "WWE, that's what it was. In a million years, I never would have thought somebody would have done something like that."
But as insane as Lesnar's behavior was, it shouldn't overshadow the first show he gave the fans Saturday night. That one was actually more impressive.
Lesnar battered Mir the entire fight. Really, Lesnar has completely battered everyone.
After quickly submitting Min-Soo Kim in his mixed martial arts debut, Lesnar has dominated Heath Herring, Randy Couture and Mir since arriving in the UFC in February of last year at UFC 81.
Although Mir won the first battle, there's no question Lesnar's inexperience played a part in the loss. Had he had the knowledge to stay away from Mir's submission skills at UFC 81, Lesnar would probably be a perfect 4-0 today.
His athleticism and the fact he's taking the UFC seriously, maybe not after a fight but certainly during it, has got some people thinking Lesnar could prove to be one of the greatest fighters ever.
"Everybody in this room knows how great Frank Mir is at submissions," White said. "You even get near his guard, you're getting submitted. Let's face it, Brock stayed out of submissions and did a ton of damage.
"He gets better every time, he might be the greatest heavyweight champion in UFC history."
If Lesnar wants to leave that kind of legacy, the champ is going to have to stay unbeaten for awhile.
So which fighters pose the biggest threat at knocking off the 265-pound freak-of-nature?
A short list of fighters who may stack up to the challenge are: Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez, Antonio Nogueira and Couture.
The undefeated Carwin and Velasquez should meet each other at UFC 104 in October, with the winner probably earning the next shot at Lesnar's belt. Like Lesnar, Velasquez has terrific ground and pound skills, which he showcased in a win over Cheick Kongo at UFC 99. Carwin would probably be more of a problem though, as he's one of the only fighters that would match Lesnar's weight, tipping the scales at 259.5 pounds for his last fight at UFC 96.
"I think Shane Carwin would be an interesting fight, Shane's got more experience," said middleweight Dan Henderson. "He's also a big guy so don't think Lesnar's size would affect him as much. Obviously Brock has better wrestling, but that would be a good fight."
Likewise, Couture and Nogueira will square off next month when they headline UFC 102. Fans would probably be a little skeptical of either of those two upsetting Lesnar however, as Nogueira was recently knocked out by Mir and Couture lost the heavyweight belt to Lesnar at UFC 91.
Couture held his own against Lesnar. But with the former champ getting older and the current champ getting better, it's hard to see Couture avenging the loss.
Several believe the fighter with the best chance against Lesnar would be the man many consider to be the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world: Fedor Emelianenko.
Emelianenko has never fought in the UFC, much to the disappointment of fight fans all over the world. Through his career in other organizations such as Pride and Affliction, the submission specialist has defeated Tim Sylvia, Mark Coleman, Mirko Filipovic, Nogueira and Herring. He faces Josh Barnett at Affliction: Trilogy on Aug. 1.
The Russian heavyweight would be the greatest test to Lesnar's submission defense and, according to White, it's just a matter of time before that fight happens.
"Eventually Fedor is coming to the UFC," White said. "I've done deals with all the best fighters all over the world. We'll end up getting that deal won and it will be Brock vs. Fedor and it will be a huge fight."
Until then, it's up to the winner of Carwin/Velasquez to have the fight of his life or one of the aging Nogueira or Couture turning back the clock with an upset to keep Lesnar from putting a stranglehold on the division.
Because even though Saturday showed the former WWE champion has some growing up to do as a professional, the guy can flat-out fight.
"I've wanted to be a fighter since I was a little kid," Lesnar said. "I've been a fighter my whole life. I wasn't the smartest kind on the block, I didn't like school. I like being one-on-one with my opponent. I acted very unprofessionally tonight and I apologize."
Brett Okamoto can be reached at brett.okamoto@lasvegassun.com.
Only another roided out WWE star will beat him physically.
Granted Lesnar dominated and won against Mir but his behaviour even before the match started, not touching gloves, shows that he needs to go back to the WWF. He says that he has wanted to be fighter since he was a little kid, I just don't see where he has grown up.No respect for others in the sport or for the sport for that matter. Grow up and get some class.....
What a joke, can't wait until the first death (blamed on roid rage) happens.
Unfortunately, Dana White cannot be very happy that his crucial marketing moment of maximum exposure was marred by a lack of sportsmanship by Brock Lesnar and an unfortunate referee error during the Dan Henderson fight.
This was to be a coming out of sorts for the UFC..In essence, to capture the "mainstream" fan. Yet even by pre-1999 UFC standards this was a brutal and raw night. Lesnar's antics, and to a lesser extent Mark Coleman's behavior at press row, harkened back to the Tank Abbot days. And Henderson's late and scarily brutal punch to Michael Bisping's unconcious head was an embarassment - not as much to Henderson (who was following through as most fighters would) as to a slow-reacting referee. ZUFFA must be thanking God for GSP. He, predictably, allowed for the good sportsmanship that White has been promoting so ubiquitously.
Obviously, damage control was in order and Lesnar's post-fight apology was an attempt to mitigate the potential alienation of the first time viewer. Only time will tell if a significant segment of the sports watching audience had been lost..
i'm so glad all of you ladies hurried and left your comments regarding the event last night.
the ufc does not give a crap about what brock said in regards to the fans. they do care about his disrespecting of the event sponsor. let's be honest, they are in this thing to make a profit.
and, for those of you who feel the ufc is so brutal, when did you hear of the last death from a ufc match? this isn't boxing. nobody is allowed to take a beating like they do in that sport. no brain hemorages here -- sorry. if you don't like the sport -- don't watch.
all of your complaints are making you ladies .... errr i mean fellas .... look like dorks. just re-read what you wrote, and, who's going to be reading this article. sorry, better luck next time.
As dominating an athlete as Lesnar is, the only person who comes to mind who can give him a test is Fedor. While I cringed at the post fight exclamations, Brock is just carrying on a tradition that hearkens back to P.T. Barnum through Gorgeous George through Ali and down to today.
The UFC will only get bigger, draw more interest and make everyone involved a lot more money with Lesnar as the champion "heel".
Hes there to fight not to make friends! He showed hes the best and cant be beat. Its just like any sport if i would lose to a man i would look him in the eye and give him the respect he needs. Mir tryed talking trash once he lost Lesnar is a real dude that doesnt take anything from anyone.
In my opinion, the sheer brutality of this sport has always been in question, in addition to the questionable athletic ability needed to be a winner. But all this coupled with this public act of poor sportsmanship makes UFC a loser in all aspects of sport.
true_rebel_fan at his finest insulting people with his juvenile rants. According to this highly educated rebel others are not entitled to an opinion and if they express themselves they are inviting his irrational,immature rants.
His comment "erri i mean fellas ... look like dorks" leads one to think this goof ball has read to many comic books.
According to rebel dink keep your comments to yourself it's his world and how dare you enter it unless you are narcissistic as well.What a jerk.
you are so funny little homer :-)
I can think of a several names off the top of my head, but one comes to mind that would make Meatsword look like he had been run though a harvesting machine:
Fedor.
But, I doubt he will be arriving in Las Vegas anytime soon. The character of G.Dog White, and the atmosphere idiots like Lesnar create, permeate the UFC with have to be a huge turn off to the man who insists he is not the best (in spite of unprecedented accomplishments in mma and combat sambo).
Forget the outrageous contract demands from the UFC for the best fighter the world has (quite literally) ever seen, the sleazy atmosphere will be enough to keep him away. Give him a one fight shot at the UFC champ and all the questions will be settled.
Carwin has an excellent shot at knocking Brock Lesnar into next week also.
A motivated (Sapp and W. Silva fights) and healthy Cro Cop would also make short work of Lesnar if he makes it last more than 1:30 of the first round.
Kind of nauseatingly fawning article.
homers just mad bc he and others got called out for having no knowledge of any subject other than playing with their peckers
true-rebel is partially correct. The UFC is all about making a profit. However, his logic goes awry after that. More profit can only be gained by either raising prices or increasing viewers. I can only assume Dana and the UFC look for long term growth, thus increasing viwership is the best solution for increased profits. Brock's antics on Saturday will not garner more viwers. In fact, I bet it will turn people off to Brock. Everyone knows that even as exciting as lower weight classes are, the Heavyweight division brings the most intrigue. If the the UFC wants to market their new heavy weight star, it is already at a disadvantge.
In short, for all of you fans who say the UFC does not want the new viwers you must be unable to do simple math; i.e., addition and multiplication. More people who wacth = more money. More people who watch = more tshirts sold, etc.
In my cynical view, this was encouraged by Dana White. Brock has never been "this" guy before, not even when he was in the WWE. Brock gains a hating, Dana scolds Brock and looks like the good guy/professional business man. People will watch the next fight just to see what Brock does. Brock will do nothing his next fight, and the UFC will look more like a mainstream sport because it has Dana who controls his sport and the fighters.
My 2 cents on Henderson. When a guy trains to fight another person, and the other goes down it's an instinct to attack. He should be held accountable and fined for his actions. Further, the referee should also be fined for not getting in the way in time.
I forgot to add I think Brock is a wiener.
I commented on brock in the last one...He is for real I hate that he beat Mir but he did it on sheer power he held him down with one arm .... no one is beating this guy .... fedor cant handle the power Carwin wont do it either....Kongo please... no one for a while maybe Lashley
Now to all you spineless fake civilized folks...
1) Try traiing for one week and tell me they are not athletes You cant do it you sit in you house and talk thats all. you've never been put to the test your comments prove it.. anyone who has been put to the test respects what these guys do period.... so sit at home blog talk but deep down you know that you spinelees and you have no courage or heart ..
2) We saw a UFC 100 the start of a sport that will be around long after us. If you dont like watch golf or ballroom dancing..
3) I was at the expo and all age groups were there....male and female.. Great event great people fighters where good to all the fans..the Ufc has always been that way
4)This sport is saving our young men if we had it the way some of you guys would like in 100 years no one in this counrty would know how to fight they would all be fat .... computer nerds.... we have been nutering our boys for the last 20 years none them wanted to box becuase it was not real.. some one stepped to you in the street you might be able to box them but really most boxers will get thrown to the ground and beat up. MMA it total self defense
5) best work out ever I lifted weights and joggged for 10 years and since Ive been training MMA for the last 4 ive never been in better shape and i'm old Randy and Colman are my peers....
6) one guy said best "dont watch" some people are weak they cant watch violence they are squeemish...same people stay home during wars.
Sure Lesnar won,he does not fight anyone his same size or Weight.Mir was much lighter,not fair for anyone in wrestling.All other bouts were equally matched in all other divisions,why not Lesnars? Mr White,just want a new Super champion and later he will match him with some other giant,like Fedor,and it will be a real moneymaker.It is all like wrestling, entertaiment.Mr.White cannot use real blackbelt martial people,they would take opponents out in less than a minute,never lasting 3 or 5 rounds and not enough entertainment for fans.Fighters,that he uses now are mostly on same level,not really experienced.They are groomed to act and fight to fit his format for the show.Lesnar is only a talented wrestler,no martial arts.Anyone can luckily tackle another and put all their bodyweight on that person,holding them down and pummel them until the referee stops contest.Lesnar will be stopped by a real fighter soon,probably Fedor,who is very knowledgeable in the arts,not just another big man,only to fight.
Big13mike I would like to see you try your little antics in the ring. In the very first UFC's all they had was Blackbelt this and Blackbelt that. They all got destroyed. Most jump around Martial Arts without a mix get crushed. Just take a look at any of your local fight groups and see how long your so called Champs last. Good try though, maybe you should get off the couch and try a little exercise of your own, just a thought!
smelteye.....thank you....true.....its amazing how many later commers think they know about MMA...