UFC
Brock Lesnar details his path to MMA, feels he's figured out striking problems into UFC 131 bout with Junior Dos Santos
Apr 19, 2011 - 8:30:58 AM Brock Lesnar details his path to MMA, feels he's figured out striking problems into UFC 131 bout with Junior Dos Santos

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Dana White and the UFC took a huge gamble in late 2007, bringing in former pro wrestler and NCAA Division I wrestling champion Brock Lesnar into the organization - just one fight into his MMA career - for a fight with former UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir.

MMA fans reacted strongly to Lesnar from the outset, and he brought with him a large subset of current and former wrestling fans who wanted to see how he could handle himself in a real fight instead of the scripted settings of the WWE. Since that first fight over three years ago, Lesnar has gone on to prove himself as a legitimate fighter, dominating a battle-tested veteran in Heath Herring, finishing the legend Randy Couture to capture the UFC Heavyweight Championship, destroying Frank Mir in their rematch and then battling his way back to health from a life-threatening illness - and a first round onslaught from Shane Carwin - to defend his belt a second time.

Often portrayed as a larger-than-life super-villain in the minds of many fans, an "invader" who was handed a title shot and pushed as the best-in-the-world, in reality Lesnar's double life was led as a fierce competitor and a family man. His drive to test himself and prove his mettle equaled only by his devotion to his family.

When he was finally upended by Cain Velasquez last October, much to the joy of his rabid and vocal detractors, he was almost entirely written-off. As he headed back home to Alexandria, Minnesota to be with his family and take a break after a more than tumultuous year, talking heads from many sides attempted to question his heart for the sport, and painted him a quitter who was more likely to walk away from yet another endeavor than come back to get beat up again.

But not only did Lesnar not walk away, he returns to action this summer to take on the most dangerous opponent he could face - outside of the man that defeated him last October - Junior Dos Santos. For Lesnar, it's yet another in a series of battles he's gone through in his life, and he continues to hold that he's truly found his calling in MMA.

"I like to fight. I've been fighting my whole life," Lesnar said in a lengthy interview with Mike Straka on HDNet's "Fighting Words" program last Friday. "Fighting to make the wrestling team, fighting to win a NCAA title. Fighting to be in WWE, whether it was politics, business, or get in the ring to win the WWE Championship, fight my way through a [NFL] training camp and didn't succeed, to now being in an arena that I think I was born to do. I think I'm a modern day gladiator, that's what drives me. That and my family, I finally found my niche. I'm my own man, I make my own rules, I live by my policies and I enjoy it."

The calm, cool and collected Lesnar has been a more frequent site over the last year since a bout with diverticulitis nearly ended not only his MMA career, but his life. With an autobiography due to hit store shelves in May, the "larger than life" character he had been perceived to be is peeling away, and the driven competitor and family man has been at the surface. It's an image shift that has turned some fans off, wishing for the days that Lesnar would do something to drive one side of the fan base crazy while entertaining another side. But while Lesnar's path to MMA had a detour in pro wrestling, that's simply not who he is or who he's ever really been.

"I had worked for so long to be successful, when I finally won my division I title that was my Olympic Gold Medal, to me," Lesnar said of his NCAA championship win in 2000. "I was done, I was tired of digging in my pocket and pulling out lint balls, and that's why it was very intriguing to me to become a pro wrestler. For so many years, for 18, 19, 20 years I had worked so hard and achieved this title that paid me absolutely nothing. But on the flip side, without that title I wouldn't have been able to be a pro wrestler or an ultimate fighter, so I put all this work in the beginning and now I'm seeing the returns of it.

"Part of me felt that I needed to move on with my life after my NCAA title, so I didn't pursue the Olympics. I understood economics. Vince McMahon filled my bank account, I was able to pay for school and help my family out. This world revolves around the benjamins, and that's kind of what drove me for a few years... the money. And then, there was a competitive thing inside of me that, once I had done all the things I could do inside the ring for WWE, I was an empty person. I felt like 'I need to go out and compete again.' That's why I feel the Octagon is home."

One of the biggest criticisms levied against Lesnar early in his MMA career was getting a shot at the heavyweight title despite just a 1-1 record in the Octagon. However, with that fight being specifically requested by then-Champ Couture, and Lesnar having already proved himself at the box office with two very good pay-per-view draws in 2009 at UFC 81 and UFC 87, respectively, the fight was a money fight for the UFC. And as Lesnar says, though he was given an opportunity many felt was undeserved or too soon, he still rose to the occasion.

"In this day and age, Dana puts on big fights and it was a big money fight for them, and for me," Lesnar explained. "Anybody in their right mind in my position wouldn't have [declined] the fight. Just like Jon 'Bones' Jones [and his shot at Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 128]."

"When you're given an opportunity you don't just say, 'oh, the timing's not right, I'm not worthy' Well, no that doesn't happen. Show me the money, show me my way, give me the opportunity. I rose to the occasion, just like Jon 'Bones' Jones."

After getting through his first five career fights without having been truly hurt or tested in the striking game, Lesnar had two consecutive fights in 2010 that saw him get hit hard, and react poorly on each occasion. Though he survived long enough to come back and defeat Carwin last July, it was not to be when he took on Velasquez last October. Lesnar's progression has seen him take on the toughest opponents of perhaps any heavyweight ever through their first seven career fights, and now with perhaps the best striker in the division preparing to stare him down on June 11, he thinks he's finally figured things out in that department.

"This is my third opponent now with heavy hands," he said. "Shane Carwin, Cain Velasquez, now Junior Dos Santos. One of these times I got to get it right. So we'll see what happens and we'll see if I'm well prepared for Junior. But I think I am. I think I've got this figured out. I wasn't able to get my eight or 10 fights against guys much less caliber than myself. Shane Carwin fought not very tough guys, these guys will tell you they weren't the toughest guys on the block. Cain Velasquez worked his way up the ladder. My way of working up the ladder has been Frank Mir, Heath Herring, Randy Couture, Shane Carwin. So I'm working my way up the ladder against no guys to shrug your shoulders at."

Lesnar may be the biggest draw the sport of MMA has seen in the U.S., and as polarizing as he is, fans still want to see him in the cage. But while he's every bit the consummate competitor, he's still the down-to-earth family man that keeps to himself and realizes his time in this sport won't last forever.

"I'm planning my retirement every day. My heart and soul is on the farm," he said. "I've got two young boys and a young daughter and a beautiful wife at home that I just love to be around. I want to raise my kids and just be 'farmer Jones,' and if I can spark some other opportunities along the way [so be it]."

"That's really who I am. When it comes down to it, I'm just the kid from Webster, South Dakota that thinks he's the meanest S.O.B. on the planet."