#3
Brock Lesnar
Summary: Size, wrestling ability, athleticism
Fighter Info
From: | Webster, South Dakota USA |
Age: | 33 |
Height: | 6' 3" ( 190 cm ) |
Weight: | 265 lb ( 120 kg ) |
College: | University of Minnesota |
On April 28, 2006, Lesnar appeared inside the ring after the final match of K-1 Hero's Las Vegas and announced his intent to join the MMA promotion. He trained with Minnesota Martial Arts Academy under Greg Nelson, and University of Minnesota Assistant Head wrestling coach Marty Morgan.[74] Brock Lesnar announced on August 12 in Las Vegas that he had signed a deal with the K-1 promotion.[75] His first fight was scheduled for June 2, 2007, on the K-1 Dynamite!! USA show against Choi Hong-man of Korea.[76][77] However, prior to the match, Choi Hong-Man was replaced by Min Soo Kim. Lesnar submitted Min Soo Kim due to strikes in 1 minute 9 seconds of the first round to win his first official MMA match.
During UFC 77, it was announced that Brock Lesnar had reached a deal to fight with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).[8] On February 2, 2008, Lesnar made his debut with the promotion in an event titled UFC 81:Breaking Point against former UFC Heavyweight Champion, Frank Mir.[78] Lesnar secured an early takedown, but was deducted a point for hitting Mir on the back of the head. Following another takedown by Lesnar, Mir managed to secure a kneebar and force a submission at 1:30 of the first round.[78] Due to the large size of his hands,[79] Lesnar was wearing 4XL gloves for the fight, making him the second man in Nevada's combat sports history to wear such gloves after Choi Hong-man.[80] At UFC 82, it was announced that former UFC Heavyweight Champion and UFC Hall of Fame inductee Mark Coleman would fight Lesnar at UFC 87:Seek and Destroy.[81] Coleman was forced to withdraw from the fight due to a training injury, and Lesnar's opponent was changed to Heath Herring.[82] In the early seconds of the first round, Lesnar dropped Herring with a straight right. For the rest of the fight, Lesnar kept the fight on the ground and went on to win by unanimous decision.[83]
Lesnar's next opponent was Randy Couture for the UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 91:Couture vs Lesnar on November 15.[84] Lesnar beat Couture via a technical knockout in Round 2, becoming the UFC Heavyweight Champion.[85]
On December 27, 2008, at UFC 92, Frank Mir defeated Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira for the Interim Heavyweight title and was to face Lesnar for the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 98. Immediately after winning the Interim Heavyweight title, Mir found Lesnar in the crowd and shouted at him "You've got my belt."
However, due to a knee injury to Mir, the title unification match with Lesnar that was originally slated to be the UFC 98 main event was postponed. The news broke during the broadcast of UFC 96 that the bout had been cancelled and was replaced by Rashad Evans vs. Lyoto Machida for the UFC Light-Heavyweight Championship."[86] Lesnar won the postponed rematch with Mir at UFC 100 on July 11, 2009, via Knockout after dominating his opponent for the duration of the bout. The win earned Lesnar Beatdown of the Year honors from Sherdog for 2009. It's an award he also shares with Anderson Silva after his win over Forrest Griffin. [1]. During his post-match celebration, Lesnar flipped off the crowd who had been booing him. He made a disparaging comment about the PPV's primary sponsor Bud Light, claiming they "won't pay me nothin'", promoting Coors Light instead. He then stated he might even "get on top of [his] wife" after the show. He would later apologize for his actions in his post-fight press conference, where he held a bottle of Bud Light.[87]
In January 2009, Brock Lesnar signed a supplement endorsement deal with Dymatize Nutrition. A CD containing training footage of Lesnar was included with boxes of Dymatize Xpand and Energized Xpand.[88]
On July 1, 2009, it was reported that the winner of the Shane Carwin vs. Cain Velasquez fight at UFC 104 would face Brock Lesnar in his second title defense on a date yet to be determined; however, the UFC then reconsidered the contendership bout and Lesnar was scheduled to defend his belt against Shane Carwin at UFC 106 on November 21
On October 26, 2009, it was announced that Lesnar had pulled out of the UFC 106 card in which he was set to face Shane Carwin for the UFC Heavyweight Championship due to an illness. UFC President Dana White said that Brock had been ill for three weeks, claiming he had never been this sick in his life and that it would take him a while to recover; his fight with Carwin was rescheduled for UFC 108 in early 2010.[90] Lesnar initially sought treatment in Canada, but later told reporters that he had received "Third World treatment" from malfunctioning equipment at a hospital in Manitoba, and that seeking better medical treatment in the United States saved his life. Lesnar, who describes himself as a conservative and a supporter of the US Republican Party, went on to criticize Canadian-style health care further and said that he shared his experience in an effort to speak "on the behalf of the doctors in the United States that don't want health care reform to happen and neither do I."[91]
On November 4, it was confirmed that Lesnar was suffering from mononucleosis and that his bout with Carwin would have to wait a bit longer, thus the fight for UFC 108 was cancelled.[92] On November 14 at the UFC 105 post-fight conference, Dana stated, "He's not well and he's not going to be getting well anytime soon." and that an interim title match might need to be set up.[93] In addition to mononucleosis, it was revealed that Lesnar was suffering from a serious case of diverticulitis, an intestinal disorder, which would require surgery.[94] After further diagnosis, on November 16 Lesnar underwent surgery to close a perforation in his intestine that had been leaking fecal matter into his abdomen, causing pain, abscesses, and overtaxing his immune system to the point that he contracted mononucleosis. From the level of damage to Lesnar's system, the surgeon estimated that the intestinal condition had been ongoing for around a year
In January 2010, Lesnar announced on ESPN SportsCenter that he was scheduled to make a return to the UFC in the summer of 2010.[96] A match between Frank Mir and Shane Carwin took place on March 27 at UFC 111 to determine the UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion, and Brock's next opponent.[97] Shane Carwin defeated Frank Mir by KO in the first round, becoming the new Interim Champion. After the fight, Brock came into the ring and stated "It was a good fight, but he's wearing a belt that's a make believe belt, I've got the real championship belt."[98]
Lesnar faced Shane Carwin at UFC 116 to unify the heavyweight titles.[99] After Carwin knocked him down early in the first round, Lesnar survived a ground and pound attack. Early in the second round, Lesnar was able to take Carwin down, attain a full mount, then move into side-control and finish the fight with an arm triangle choke. With the victory, Lesnar again became the Undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champion, earning his first UFC Submission Of The Night and giving Carwin his first loss.
ESPN The Magazine, in its May 2011 issue, did a story listing the highest paid athlete based on base salary and earnings for the most recent calendar year or most recent season in 30 sports. Brock Lesnar topped the list for mixed martial artists at $5.3 million, which included his reported bout salaries and estimated pay-per-view bonuses
