 Brock
Lesnar Makes Name for Himself in MMA
Former WWE
superstar Brock Lesnar defeats Min Soo Kim
The
Royce
Gracie vs
Kazushi Sakuraba
fight wasn't the only big name draw on the K1 Fight
Dynamite card Friday night. Former WWE
superstar Brock Lesnar made his MMA debut at the LA
Coliseum with an impressive win over Min Soo Kim.
Many view
professional wrestling as supplying a fan base to
Mixed Martial Arts along with boxing. But
unlike boxing, professional wrestling is still
experiencing massive worldwide popularity.
Lesnar's departure
from the WWE left many fans alienated.
After his final
match at WrestleMania XX, Lesnar sidelined his
career in WWE to pursue a career in the National
Football League. This move upset many in WWE,
as the company had invested heavily in Lesnar. World
Wrestling Entertainment confirmed Lesnar's departure
on their official website WWE.com by the statement
“ Brock Lesnar has made a personal decision to put
his WWE career on hold to prepare to tryout for the
National Football League this season. Brock has
wrestled his entire professional career in the WWE
and we are proud of his accomplishments and wish him
the best in his new endeavor.”
Lesnar later told a Minnesota radio show that he had
three wonderful years in WWE, but had grown unhappy
and had always wanted to play pro football, adding
that he didn't want to be 40 years old and wondering
if he could have made it in football. In an
interview about starting with the NFL, Lesnar made
the statement
“ This is no load of bull; it's no WWE stunt. I am
dead serious about this... I ain't afraid of
anything, and I ain't afraid of anybody. I've been
an underdog in athletics since I was 5. I got zero
college offers for wrestling. Now people say I can't
play football, that it's a joke. I say I can. I'm as
good an athlete as a lot of guys in the NFL, if not
better... I've always had to fight for everything. I
wasn't the best technician in amateur wrestling. But
I was strong, had great conditioning, and a hard
head. Nobody could break me. As long as I have that,
I don't give a damn what anybody else thinks.”
Lesnar played in 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 of 6,000. Huard was knocked
silly, and had to go to the sidelines and sit out a
few plays. Giving hard hits to quarterbacks in
scrimmages violates an unwritten understanding, and
the Chiefs were not too happy with him. His actions
got him featured on Sports Center on more than one
occasion.[57] After playing in a few pre-season
games, Lesnar was eventually cut from the team after
not showing up for practices due to an injury
sustained by a motorcycle ride during the summer of
2004. He declined to accept an invitation to play as
a representative of the Vikings in NFL Europe.
Lesnar had
previously signed a no-compete clause in order to be
released from his contract with WWE, which
prohibited him from working for any other sports
entertainment or mixed martial arts companies before
June 2010. This suit was later settled out of
court.
Lesnar signed a
one-fight deal with K-1. Royce Gracie, who won
his K-1 Dynamite bout as well, served as Lesnar's
trainer.
In just one minute
and nine seconds Lesnar defeated South Korean judo
expert Min Soo Kim Saturday evening in LA.
Caleb Newby of
411Mania writes:
Where does the
former WWE champion go from here? In the post fight
interview Brock expressed his desire to get a
heavyweight title shot… presumably in the UFC.
There's nothing wrong with shooting for the top
after an impressive performance, though Brock is far
from ready to face the Fedor's, Couture's, and
Barnett's of the world. Fortunately for Lesnar the
heavyweight landscape in MMA isn't the deepest out
there, and someone with his name value will draw in
money. Imagine Brock facing someone like Cheick
Kongo or Assuerio Silva. There are no shortages of
mid tier heavyweight talents out there, and adding
Lesnar to the mix automatically increases profile.
----
Also See:
UFC
71 Results Have MMA Bettors Hungry for More
Royce
Gracie Wins as Small Underdog
UFC
News: Din Thomas Calls out Floyd Mayweather
---
Tyrone Black,
Sports911.com
Originally
published June 3, 2007 7:16 am ET
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