It didn’t take long for the internet hate machine to roll into gear following the now-retired Brock Lesnar’s admittedly feeble loss to Alistair Overeem in their title eliminator at UFC 141 on Saturday.
Lesnar was undoubtedly outclassed by a incredibly hot opponent in the Dutchman Overeem, but critics have been quick to unfairly write off the former pro wrestling star as an overhyped fad.
Nothing changes the fact that Brock had more of an impact in eight fights than anyone else has managed in the same brief period of time.
Brock won the UFC Heavyweight championship in just his fourth fight. This wasn’t four fights and a lifetime of training. Brock did it with just months of proper MMA training and four fights.
In the last three years, Brock decimated Hall of Famer Randy Couture to win the title, before two successful title defences with a submission win over one-time next big thing Shane Carwin and a brutal revenge win over perennial contender Frank Mir.
With these wins, Brock became one of just three men to defend the heavyweight title twice in their careers, along with Couture and Tim Sylvia.
While Brock’s career ended with big losses to Cain Velasquez and Overeem, these came with Brock weighing in a little lighter on account of missing twelve inches of his colon after two bouts with life threatening diverticulitis.
The sad fact of all of this is that we will never know what Lesnar could have been with a full career. Imagine if he had skipped his stint in the WWE and had dedicated a decade to the sport.
At 34, Brock was unfortunately too old to make another serious attempt at a long MMA career. He’ll disappear back to his ranch in Minnesota, take out a species or two and probably won’t be seen again.
However he should go home proud of what he achieved in an unbelievably short period of time. And we should congratulate him on his accomplishments.
Love him or hate him. We watched him in droves. And the UFC is a poorer place for his loss.
One more thing, one door closes and another opens. And Jimy Hettes just blew the door off the lightweight division. Definitely one to watch in 2012.
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