Brock Lesnar, A Kickboxer's Worst Nightmare?

From the WWE, to the NFL and to the UFC, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar has done it all in the sports world. After losing his title to up-and-comer Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar has dealt with several bouts of diverticulitis, and come out on the winning end, with an insatiable bloodlust. He wants his title back, and it seems nothing can stop him.
Lesnar, a former NCAA National Champion wrestler at the University of Minnesota, began his career in MMA relatively young, considering his various other athletic ventures. Lesnar entered into the MMA landscape in 2007 after a storied career in the WWE, and after being cut by the Minnesota Vikings following a short stint with the team in 2005.
At the age of 30, Lesnar made his MMA debut against Min-Soo Kim. Lesnar quickly blitzed the former K-1 World Grand Prix finalist and pummeled him for almost the entire first round before Kim simply tapped due to strikes. With such a dominant debut, and given his prior fame as one of the WWE’s biggest stars, the UFC quickly came calling, and Lesnar was signed to the heavyweight roster, eyeing an early year debut with the promotion. Lesnar was set to face former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir, who would later become Lesnar’s biggest rival.
At UFC 88, the two met, and Lesnar immediately looked to bring the fight to the ground. He gained a dominant position and began reigning down punches, but referee Steve Mazagatti halted the fight and deducted Lesnar a point for repeated strikes to the back of Mir’s head. The inexperience of Lesnar proved to be a factor in the closing seconds of the fight. He stood up to get out of Mir’s guard, instead of passing to a more dominant position. As he did so, Mir rolled spectacularly into a kneebar, forcing Lesnar to tap out at 3:30 of the opening frame.
The loss to Mir, albeit a controversial one, didn’t set Lesnar back much, as after a decision victory over Heath Herring, Lesnar found himself in the fight of his life against UFC Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight strap. After a contentious first round, Lesnar dominated the older Couture to become the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion at just 32 years of age.
After becoming champion, only one thing was on Lesnar’s mind, and that was avenging the only loss on his ledger. He wanted Frank Mir, and he got him as the headliner for the historic UFC 100. The rematch was rather unspectacular as Lesnar beat his opponent into the ground early. Securing the early takedown, Lesnar pushed Mir against the cage, and beat his head through the mat. There was no controversy, there was no question, Brock Lesnar was for real and he was at the top of the sport’s biggest division.
The Minnesotan was next set to face supreme knockout artist, Shane Carwin to defend his UFC Heavyweight Title for the second time. The champ quickly became concerned with a bigger foe than Carwin, and thus began his first bout with the digestive tract disease, diverticulitis. Lesnar was out of action for almost three-quarters of the year, but came back strong when he finally faced Carwin at UFC 116, ten events later than their first scheduled meeting.
The fight began frustrating at the very least for Lesnar fans. Carwin rocked Lesnar early on with his heavy hands, and followed up with an onslaught on the ground. With a meager three power strikes landed in the first round, versus Carwin’s 40, the champ looked to be completely outmatched. In a stunning turn of events, Lesnar looked completely rejuvenated in the second round. Carwin had completely gassed himself out, in an attempt to end the fight, and Lesnar pounced on him. Shortly after taking the fight to the mat, Lesnar transitioned to full mount and wrapped up an arm-triangle choke. He quickly stepped over into side-control to tighten the choke, and his chokehold on the UFC Heavyweight division.
After his defense against Carwin, Lesnar was matched up against another top wrestler in the undefeated Cain Velasquez. Velasquez, who has eight of his nine wins via knockout, chose to handle Lesnar on the feet, and handle him he did. Lesnar was tossed around the Octagon like a child, and looked lackluster at best. Velasquez opened a cut on Lesnar’s cheek midway through the first round that still hasn’t healed properly to this day, en route to a first round TKO victory. Lesnar had finally lost the title after 707 days, the longest single reign for a UFC Heavyweight.
The future for Lesnar was uncertain, as he was manhandled by a fighter who he outweighed by more than 35 pounds. Lesnar was next set to coach on The Ultimate Fighter opposite Junior Dos Santos. The two agreed to a bout to fight to decide the number one contender for Velasquez’s title, but after the filming of the show had concluded, Lesnar entered into his second bout with his intestines. The bout concluded with a surgery to remove a 12-inch section of his colon, and put him on the shelf for close to seven months.
Upon his return, it was announced that Lesnar would face off against former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, former Dream Heavyweight Champion, and K-1 Kickboxing World Champion Alistair Overeem. That’s a tall order, even for a man with all the accolades Brock Lesnar possesses. Lesnar will have to get it to the mat quickly to stand even a chance, given his poor boxing skills. Look for Lesnar to shoot for a takedown early, much like he did at UFC 88 against Mir. The fight looks to take place in several series on the ground, as I don’t see Lesnar being able to control Overeem on the ground for long.
Overeem will look to deny Lesnar’s takedowns with his striking, rather than a sprawl. Lesnar can still achieve a dominant position when sprawled, and there has yet to be a fighter to sprawl him. Overeem will pepper Lesnar with strikes on the way in, and bring the fight up to the clinch, into his domain. From there he has a completely new arsenal of strikes to unload on the former wrestler, who has shown he is not particularly fond of taking a punch. Look for Overeem to keep his distance and wait for Lesnar to attack with a takedown, and then end the fight in the clinch, likely by way of a brutal “Uberknee.”