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ASK THE TORCH: Amadi answers reader questions on Brock Lesnar's mental toughness, UFC pay, lightweight #1 contender
Jan 5, 2012 - 12:45:27 PM ASK THE TORCH: Amadi answers reader questions on Brock Lesnar's mental toughness, UFC pay, lightweight #1 contender

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By: Jason Amadi, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

An anonymous reader writes: Plain and simple Brock can't take a punch and keep on fighting. That's why he always got beat by guys that can strike and take it too. He is just a big athlete with previous fame because of WWE fame. He should have been put to earn a spot on roster like Kimbo Slice. I think Brock is not mentally tough when he gets hit, he always backed down from guys hitting him or ran away just say the truth. Or am I wrong?

A: Yes, you're wrong. Brock Lesnar was a novice that would compete exclusively at the elite level and was still able to capture and defend the UFC Heavyweight Championship. Can we all stop pretending that this was the worst career we've ever seen?

There's nothing I can say that's going to make it any less hilarious that a big hulking guy like Brock Lesnar turned tail and ran from Shane Carwin. But in his defense, it was only his sixth professional fight, he had a year layoff due to illness and in his return bout he fought an undefeated fighter and beat him.

Alistair Overeem ran away from Sergei Kharitonov in his 36th professional fight and instead of coming back and pulling off a submission in the second round like Lesnar did, Overeem was brutally knocked out cold.

Lesnar's career was all highs and lows with nothing but diverticulitis in between. The guy started his MMA career at the tail end of his athletic prime, diverticulitis claimed about two years of that and he fought elite fighters all the way through; and he still won more than he lost. Considering his eighth and final mixed martial arts fight ended with him getting punched, kicked and kneed to the body after having 12 inches of his colon removed, I think it's time to cut Brock Lesnar some slack.
 

Nestor writes: How are pay figures for top UFC fighters determined? Are these amounts simply based on how well the fighters have drawn on previous events? Brock Lesnar reportedly made a guaranteed $400,000 for his fight with Overeem. Taking into account taxes, gate, bonuses, camp's share, etc, did Brock make more or less than the disclosed amount? 

A: Due to Alistair Overeem's legal disputes with Golden Glory, his actual pay for UFC 141 is more or less known . According to Dave Meltzer UFC 141 did an estimated 750,000-810,000 pay-per-view buys in North America. Overeem had a disclosed pay of about $385,000 and due to his legal disputes with Golden Glory, we know that after the UFC made $500,000 off pay-per-view buys, Alistair Overeem would make $2 off of every subsequent pay-per-view sold.

So assuming UFC 141 did 800,000 pay-per-view buys, Alistair Overeem would have earned about $2.26 million.  Brock Lesnar made more than Overeem even in disclosed pay, so yes he definitely made more than $400,000.
 
 
Chris writes: I am a diehard MMA fan and the MMA Torch app is how I get my daily MMA fix.  I just read that Melvin Guillard vs. Jim Miller is a number one contender fight and it made me furious.  How does Guillard deserve a title shot? HOW?  He got submitted by Joe Lauzon, who by the way is a great fighter who gets over looked all the time. Guillard is getting a second chance on the grounds that his fight with Lauzon was a fluke.  Why shouldn't Anthony Pettis get a easy second chance on the grounds that Guida just held him down and did no damage when they fought? 

A: Fighters are probably the last people you want to listen to when it comes to who's getting the next title shot. Unless Dana White comes out and says that the Guillard-Miller fight is for a title shot, then you should just consider anyone winning fights at 155 to be "in the mix" and move on.

However, you should also prepare yourself for a scenario like that this to play out. The lightweight logjam was a fun story in 2011, but that's over now. The unspoken tournament is over, Benson Henderson won and now he's fighting for the title. Everyone else at 155 is pretty much on even footing.

If Benson Henderson beats Frank Edgar and Anthony Pettis beats Joe Lauzon, then I  could see the UFC putting them together because Pettis would be the last man to beat the champ.

But if Edgar wins, then the Jim Miller-Melvin Guillard winner probably has to be factored into the equation; and considering how Pettis has looked in the UFC thus far, it'd be hard to give him the title shot ahead of more tested fighters.

Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @JasonAmadi and direct your "Ask the Torch" questions to mmatorch@gmail.com