S.D. Native Brock Lesnar | A New Beginning

In 2004, Lesnar decided enough was enough and wanted to see if he had what it took to compete in the NFL. Lesnar played for the Minnesota Vikings, where he created controversy in some games by starting minor fights and got heat from the Kansas City Chiefs for a sack on quarterback Damon Huard, which drew a big response from the crowd. Huard was hit hard and had to go to the sidelines and sit out a few plays. He had the size, strength, and agile aspect covered, it was the experience that he just didn’t have. After playing in the preseason, Lesnar was cut and never tried out in the NFL again.

Lesnar, bouncing back to his wrestling roots went back to professional wrestling again, this time in Japan. It didn’t last long until he decided he just wasn’t happy with his career at hand. I couldn’t imagine him playing pro basketball, hockey, or even baseball. What else other than MMA could this guy be doing?

He stayed close to his roots, joining Greg Nelson at the Minnesota’s Martial Arts Academy. Brock Lesnar’s name was thrown around the UFC before, but never took too much interest as they guessed it would be a huge investment if they did. On June 2, 2007, Brock Lesnar made his MMA debut in K-1’s Dynamite USA against Min Soo Kim, defeating him due to strikes in 1 minute 9 seconds of the first round to win his first official MMA match. This time UFC President Dana White took notice. Four months later, Lesnar appeared on UFC TV, announcing his agreement to sign with the UFC, and another four months later(February 2, 2008) Lesnar’s made is anticipated UFC debut against former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir.

Brock would go on to lose his UFC debut via knee bar. Many began to doubt Lesnar once again, wondering if this was all a publicity stunt to get his name heard. Lesnar refusing to give up, draws seasoned veteran Heath Herring for his next fight, dropping Herring in a unanimous decision that proved many doubters wrong, but still left some wondering. Which is why his next bout was questioned by many fighters and fans. Carrying a 2-1 record, Lesnar was already given a shot at the UFC Heavyweight Champion and MMA Legend Randy Couture. This is where I personally became an anti-Brock Lesnar fan, but how can you doubt a guy who wins the championship and then goes onto avenge his one and only loss, defeating Frank Mir via TKO on their rematch bout.

After that particular bout, Lesnar was so hyped up and oozing adrenaline that he decided to tell Frank Mir exactly what he thought about him, getting in his face, making sure Mir knew who is the better man and that Mir’s first win against Lesnar was just a fluke. If that didn’t right out shock you, his next step in mocking UFC sponsors and even giving the crowd a couple middle fingers was just enough to assure Lesnar he is the top dog in this organization. This got many people’s attention in a negative way that UFC may have even taken a few steps backwards in their road to proclaiming MMA as a real sport in alot of doubters eyes.