Brock Lesnar
Brock Lesnar destroyed Frank Mir at UFC 100 tonight. It wasn’t unexpected; the guy weighed in at 265 and was probably around 280 at fight time, and his neck is thicker than most peoples’ waists. What was unexpected however was the post fight trash talk. After sitting on and pummeling Mir in the face until ref Herb Dean stepped in, Lesnar strode up to a still groggy Mir and shouted, “Talk all the shit you want now.” The fans booed.
The odd thing is that Mir hadn’t really been talking any shit. Sure, he did the regular pre-fight buildup, but nothing he said was all that bad. There was very little trash talking coming from Mir before the fight.
I have no doubt that Lesnar is the best heavyweight in the UFC right now, and as a former Division I wrestling champion (the real wrestling, not the fake wrestling), he’s obviously a very good athlete. He’s also very strong. He won that division fair and square. However, it’s also true that there really are no good heavyweights in the UFC right now. There haven’t been any good heavyweights for a long time. Think about it–if the heavyweight division were all that good, how would someone like Randy Couture, who only became a heavyweight because he was having trouble with Liddell at light heavyweight, win?
The truth is that it’s the worst division in the UFC right now. There is no division that suffers from lack of talent as much as the heavyweight division. With the exception of Lesnar, there are no good fighters there, and Dana refuses to pay Fedor enough to join. He refuses to make the UFC attractive to heavyweights at the competing smaller MMA organizations. So not only was Lesnar’s trash talking low class, it’s also groundless. Lesnar may be very good, but the way the heavyweight division looks in the UFC, he’s still just the best of the worst.
Related posts:
But here is an...
I agree with everything you said. About #1…I think...
Well said!
Thanks!
I appreciate that Dana White has brought MMA to the mainstream, but I think he seriously needs to do more to bring better fighters in, especially at the heavyweight level. Almost everyone still says Fedor is the best, even though he looked terrible when fighting Arlovski. A lot of it has to do with money, but a lot has to do with the way the contracts are written. I think Dana should negotiate.
The best of the worst. Good analysis, B. Heavyweights in both MMA and boxing lack talent. Miss the days of Ali and Tyson.
Well UFC has managed to hang in there and even thrive when other promotions have gone under.
But as you’ve said the problem is much larger than just Brock’s lack of competition or nobody from UFC taking on Fedor. The problem is that Dana White’s trying to sit as King of the Mountain, because right now the mountain is made of cash.
But people want competition at the highest levels, and when you’re top dog out there they expect you to deliver. Unless Brock wants to become the next Kimbo Dana better stop sitting on his ass counting his promotional fees and start improving what’s supposed to be the “premier” division of his company.
People already have that seed of doubt. Hopefully some of these other competitions (Strikeforce, etc.) will continue to build and promote their people. Maybe some public pressure or questioning will get Dana back on board with improving the fighters at heavyweight.
Hey!
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/mma/2009-07-12-733483265_x.htm
But White remains confident he’ll eventually sign Fedor Emelianenko, the Russian heavyweight considered among the sport’s top pound-for-pound fighters. Emelianenko fights in Anaheim, Calif., on Aug. 1 to finish his contract with Affliction, and White said he’ll go after the Russian striker with an open wallet.
“Eventually, Fedor is going to be here,” White said. “I want him to come to the UFC. … We’ll do Brock vs. Fedor, and it’ll be a huge fight. He’s obviously contractually obligated to fight (in Anaheim), and once that’s over, we’ll see how it goes.”
Fedor looked really bad vs. Arlovski, but I have the feeling that given this opportunity, he’ll actually train to win.