By the way I titled this article you can probably imagine who I am talking about, and if you do not then the picture should give it away. I am talking about the Beast who hails from the University of Minnesota, the former UFC Heavyweight Champ, former multiple WWE Champ, former Heavyweight Wrestling Champ in the NCAA Division I. The one in 23-1, the one who broke the famous Undertaker Streak at Wrestlemania XXX.
I have so much fun talking about the man returning back to the UFC for one more fight, but you have to wonder what does Brock bring to UFC 200? What does he have left in the tank? If he beats Mark Hunt, what does that mean for the title hunt? If he loses, what does that mean for Brock? There are a lot of unanswered questions that come with Brock coming back to the Octagon. There can not be any question that if he beats Mark Hunt, Brock is telling the WWE I need to win this title. As the WWE, how do you tell someone "no" who looks like this:
What does it mean to have Brock Lesnar back in the UFC. From a revenue point, it means a lot! Brock has a huge fans base and people will follow him wherever he goes, I am going on a limb and saying if Brock did "Dancing with the Stars", a lot of his fans would go to vote for him just because of who he is. I could imagine that anyone on the ballroom floor could look like this:
So let's say that Brock is able to win against Mark Hunt, what does this do for the title hunt? I found it amazing that I am looking at the MMA world and Brock is not ranked! But, to be honest it has been four years since he has been in the Octagon and he will have a lot of ring rust that will come with it. Some could argue, he has been in the WWE and still in shape, but there is a difference. Yes, sometimes people get hit for real in the WWE, but YOU GET HIT FOR REAL IN THE UFC! Now Brock is able to throw punches and do some damage when he wants to such as:
But when Brock has fought against people who is a better striker than what he is, it has not turned out well for him, remember this:
Or this:
Now I am not taking anything way from Brock (especially when we all knew that Overeem was using PEDs) but Cain was a younger version of Brock and had better striking than Brock did. Also, Brock said that he did not end his fighting career and illness did. But you have to wonder, where Brock would have been in the UFC if he had stayed. With guys like Junior Dos Santos, Roy Nelson, Fabricio Werdum, Travis Browne how will or would he stack up against those guys? His striking is not elite, most of those strikers will be able to out hit him; his wrestling is excellent, but there are some of those who are better than him and can take him down with ease; he has a sub-par submission game, the only submission victory he has is against Shane Carwin (and that was in the second round after Carwin gassed out and let him put in an arm triangle):
As I mentioned Brock's striking is not elite, but he does have stopping power. Now when it comes to fighting someone like Mark Hunt, he is going to need to land big shots often to have a chance. Hunt loves to throw bombs and make sure that people feel his punches, like this:
Or this:
or even this:
Brock has a lot of work to do, but I do seem him trying to take this fight to the ground and work his ground and pound. Mark Hunt does not have a great wrestling defense or even an ability to get off the mat once he has been taking down. Brock can do a lot of damage when he does not have a lot of room on the ground. Just ask Frank Mir:
I think this fight has an element of unknown but awesomeness at the same time. Lesnar can throw bombs with Hunt if he wants to, but really should utilize his ground game. Mark knows that takedowns will be coming but does he have the speed to protect his legs before Brock moves in?
UFC 200 will answer a lot of questions for us. Will Brock continue his journey in the UFC if he wins at 200? Will the WWE grant Brock the ability to chase another Heavyweight title? Will more people jump back on the Lesnar train at UFC 200? All these questions and more will be answer at UFC 200!!!
What are your thoughts on this fight? Let me know in the comments below.
No comments:
Post a Comment