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Name: Brock Lesnar
Professional MMA Record: 3-1, Current UFC Heavyweight Champion
Biography: Brock Lesnar was born and raised in Webster, South Dakota. Growing up on a farm, Lesnar at an early age developed a work ethic that's driven him to this day. He found athletic success in high school as a wrestler, parlaying that into a college career beginning at Bismarck Junior College in 1997.
In two years at Bismarck, Lesnar amassed a 56-3 record. His breakout came in two years at North Dakota State University's annual Bison Open wrestling tournament. A competition with Division I wrestlers and junior college wrestlers competing against one another, the Bison Open allowed Lesnar a chance to compete against top wrestlers around the country, and he beat them. In '97 he defeated a member of the University of Minnesota en route to winning the Bison Open. In '98, he not only would repeat that feat but he would go on to become the National Junior College Athletic Association Champion in the heavyweight division. Bismarck had to fold their wrestling program following that year, and Lesnar was recruited to the University of Minnesota to wrestle in Division I.
His first year at the U of M saw him go 24-1 with a Big Ten title to his name for the school. He also took the Bison Open for a third straight year. He fell short of a National Title that season, however, losing 3-2 in the finals to current New England Patriot Stephen Neal. The following year he improved the his record from the previous year to 26-1, the sole loss coming at the hands of Iowa State's Wes Hand. He would avenge that loss in the NCAA tournament, defeating Hand in the finals to become the NCAA Heavyweight Champion in 2000. He ended his college tenure with a stellar amateur record of 106-5.
After college, Lesnar joined the world of professional wrestling by signing with the WWE. He spent time in the developmental system at Ohio Valley Wrestling before making his television debut in March of 2002. His size and athleticism made him a natural for the show, and in seemingly no time he was pushed to the top of that world and made the then youngest Champion in the WWE's history at age 25. Lesnar was an absolute star in the WWE for the next two years, but he burnt out on the travel schedule and decided to leave the WWE in 2004 following Wrestlemania XX.
Lesnar decided to attempt a run at the National Football League, and despite not having played football in college he nearly made the Minnesota Vikings in 2004. He played through the preseason and made it to one of the final cuts before the season. Again, his natural athletic ability nearly allowed him to be successful in that venture, but that alone was not enough to make it as a professional football player. He declined an offer to join the Vikings' NFL Europe affiliated team, wanting to stay home with his family.
Lesnar is married to Rena Mero, formerly known as Sable in the WWE. He's got a 7-year-old daughter from a previous relationship and a step daughter, and the two are expecting their first child together this month.
Lesnar would battle the WWE in a lawsuit over a "no compete" clause when he wrestled briefly in Japan. That led to Lesnar's announcement in 2007 that he was training for mixed martial arts and would make his debut with K-1 at their Dynamite!! USA card in June of '07. He was originally scheduled to face Hong Man Choi in his debut, but Choi had to pull out of the bout and Lesnar would face Min Soo Kim in his debut bout instead.
Following a successful debut Lesnar signed with the UFC, making his debut in February of 2008 against Frank Mir. After losing that bout, Lesnar rebounded in 2008 with a win over Heath Herring and one over Randy Couture to become the UFC Heavyweight Champion in November. He's now set to unify the Heavyweight Championship with Frank Mir's Interim Title in this rematch at UFC 100.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
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