At UFC 100 on July 11, Brock Lesnar convincingly defeated Frank Mir in front of a hostile crowd and millions of viewers at home to unify the UFC heavyweight championship. By now you have probably heard about Brock Lesnar's post-fight rant at UFC 100 on Saturday night. What you may not know is what may have led up to that rant.
The former WWE superstar spent eighteen months preparing for that one moment. In fact, since his debut at UFC 81, Lesnar has done nothing but listen to how unpolished he is. Even when he won, he was written off as a fluke. Take when he defeated "The Natural" Randy Couture. It wasn't taken as Brock dominating, but rather that Randy was just old. Leading up to the rematch with Mir, there were plenty of darts thrown at him saying that he was a horrible technician, and that his record does not indicate championship material.
Next came the steroid allegations. Even though those who came out at Brock completely disregarded the fact that he has never failed a drug test on any level. Then came the attacks on his association with the WWE. Fans and writers alike took him to task about being mixed in with "that" crowd.
So now we take all of that in and add to the fact that he was jeered continuously when he came out for UFC 100. He takes all of that in and unleashes it upon Mir. Even after that the boos continue. In the heat of all of the adrenaline still pumping through him, a microphone is thrown in his face. Well we all know what happened next.
I will readily admit, when I first saw Brock saying the things he said and flipping the crowd off I thought, "Damn, this reminds me of the WWE." but when I thought about it, I realized he was actually making his star even bigger.
A great bad guy makes the UFC stronger, and time has shown that UFC President Dana White will always have his hands full with Brock, he needs Brock to further bring UFC into the mainstream. The 32-year-old Lesnar is a throw back bad guy. He hates interviews, hates opponents and may even hate himself as far as we know. But he makes people pick sides.
As big as Brock is, He is not the best heavyweight out there. That title goes to goes to Russian Fedor Emelianenko. A dream fight would pit the two against each other would be ideal. White has said that he will do anything he can to make sure this fight happens, seeing that Fedor is in a rival organization. Imagine that fight for a moment. Thousands, maybe millions would tune in to see if Fedor's ability could match the hype against MMA's current bad boy. Thousands more will tune in to see if someone can finally shut Brock's mouth. New fans will show up just to see to see what all this UFC stuff is about.
Brock's antics were good for UFC because no matter what he does now, people are either gonna love him or hate him, and that means more people want to watch his fights either to see him get his ass handed to him or beat the hell out of somebody. Either way everyone wins.
I agree completely. I actually thought Brock's rant after beating Mir on Saturday is what made the fight memorable. It was good for everyone involved (with the exception of Mir). When was the last time people were still talking about a MMA event almost a full week after it happened? While I was watching Brock's match on Saturday with a group of friends, I noticed that lines had clearly been drawn, 1/2 the room wanted to see him get his ass kicked, and the other 1/2 wanted to see him destroy Mir. Either way, it's a win / win for the UFC.
Side note: Dana White needs to keep Brock Lesnar as far away from Fedor Emiliananko (?) as possible.
I don't think Brock's rant was that big of a deal. He's a big,bad mother f'er with pent up rage inside of him. I forgot that we live in a castrated society where athletes are supposed to giggle like little girls after a huge athletic performance. Does anyone remember Mike Tyson and his pre-fight/post fight rants??? These guys are gladiators not figure skaters.
You aint shit till you fight me and you know it.