Edit: THIS article helped me chillax a bit. Very well written.
Just in case anyone catches this before they watch UFC 100, it has spoilers. Avoid, until after you see it.
I have been an MMA fan for a while. I have never been one to memorize stats and stuff, but I know the fighters, I can call to memory a fight here and there. I actually got the first three UFC’s ever on pay-per-view when they aired. I watched, maybe, the first ten, then one here and there, and then almost every one since about UFC 57. I believe I can hold my own in any conversation when it comes to MMA. And tonight was the landmark UFC 100. This was huge for the UFC. Definitely a milestone.
I could talk about of the fights, especially the main event. But I want to discuss one of the fighters in the main event. Brock Lesnar. Just some brief history on this guy for those who have no idea or know very little. He was a world class wrestler in college. We’re talking champion multiple times, All-American, went something like 106-5 in four years of amateur wrestling. He then went to the WWE. Yes, pro wrestling. The theater sport. He then decided he wanted to try some REAL fighting and wanted to fight in the UFC. Most people have to work to get to the UFC. They go fight in amateur events, get in to some small organization like Cage Rage, or even EliteXC, and then, if they’ve proven themselves, they get a shot in the UFC. He talked to Dana White, president of the UFC, and said he wanted to really test his fighting ability. He was told that the UFC was not where you prove yourself, it’s where you fight the best. Lesnar said he wanted to hit the ground running and so it went. He lost his first fight, to Frank Mir, whom he fought again tonight. He beat Mir in convincing fashion. And even I was gonna give him his due respect. He was now the undisputed UFC Heavyweight Champ. Then he did it…
Frank Mir was still half out of it and just stood up, and this douche bag comes up and talks some trash to his face. That to me was beyond disrespectful, to Mir and the sport. Then to make matters worse, he’s interviewed after the winner is announced and he again proceeds to talk trash,which is normal for a fight with bad blood, but he starts yelling in to the mic and walking around like he’s back in the WWE. I understand there’s emotion involved. I understand that there’s all kinds of people. Most athletes are a little more cocky than regular people. But this is MMA – Mixed Martial Arts. Martial Arts is a means of self defense and has a long history of being driven by honor and respect. Bushido if you will. Bushido is a code of conduct derived directly from Samurai. Honor was more important than life itself to the Samurai. And Martial Arts is supposed to encompass that principle. There are some fighters that still exhibit that principle. Fighters like Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva, among others. Not only are they a dying breed, there are too many fighters like Brock Lesnar that have no respect for fighters or the sport. He’s here to prove something to himself. Maybe his daddy didn’t say he was proud of him enough, I don’t know. But he respects nothing.
I understand that for the UFC, it was a good move. There had been talk about guys wanting to come in from wrestling and boxing trying to prove that MMA was not a real fighting sport. So Dana and the Fertitas probably figured if he loses, they shut up some doubters about the UFC and MMA. If he wins, they get a new demographic of viewers, cause WWE fans will follow Brock, especially if he wins. Win, win.
Albeit my disgust with his antics, I will admit that he is an imposing force. But I will say that it is NOT skill he posseses. He is a HUGE man. That much weight and power is hard for anyone to handle, regardless of skill. That, is his only skill. He is a force of nature; nothing more, nothing less. He is technically the champ, but he does not represent what MMA is. He’s a very big, very strong wrestler that is allowed to kick and punch. There is no Martial Art about that, and there is no Bushido in Brock Lesnar. The sooner someone dismantles him(Fedor Emelianenko), the better it will be for the sport… IN MY OPINION.
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AC
P.P.
If anyone associated with the UFC actually reads this… PLEASE do everything possible to get Fedor in the UFC. I have no doubt that he destroys Brock. I truly hope so, cause I can’t stand the guy.