how you completely forgot to mention that he was a 2 time NCAA all-American and the 2000 NCAA Heavyweight Champion.

That doesn’t count for anything?

And as far as the NFL goes, despite not playing football since college, he was still good enough with just a few months of training. He got cut late. He would have made it had he pursued it longer.

and finally, what fuck does a “Good chin” have to do with being a good athlete?

Let me break it down for you -

Main Entry:
    ath·lete
Pronunciation:
    \ˈath-ˌlēt, ÷ˈa-thə-ˌlēt\
Function:
    noun
Etymology:
    Middle English, from Latin athleta, from Greek athlētēs, from athlein to contend for a prize, from athlon prize, contest
Date:
    15th century

: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina

I chuckle every time I hear someone say, ‘his chin is a question so we can’t call him great’. I guess we can’t call anderson silva great.

I won’t go the route of quoting the dictionary, but coming from a sports background (personal, academic and professional) I can say that the term athleticism is typically used to describe someone who shows remarkable results in strength, agility and endurance. Someone can be very strong…but not athletic. Someone can have good stamina…etc.
So, from my experience and what I believe is the accepted understanding of the term I can’t see how Brock is anything but a great athlete. We know he’s quick. We know he’s strong. And in the context of MMA we know he can go three rounds. I would say if anything athleticism is the one thing Brock is good at.
And in contention of your assessment that athleticism requires a skill set, it’s been said many times, especially GSP, that athleticism is a trait of the fighter. A person’s athleticism is not founded on their skill level in what they’re performing. In fact, someone’s athleticism is commonly noted when they are actually subpar at what they’re performing but able to produce results based on their athleticism.

He is such a terrible athlete, that the Vikings wanted to sign him to the practice squad, which he turned down.

I’m not a Lesner fan at all, but dude is a great athlete.

Brock’s athleticism is the reason he’s a favorite coming into the fight. He could have been an Olympic athlete if he hadn’t done WWE. He’s the fastest and strongest guy in the UFC Heavyweight division (except Shane Carwin maybe). His football is pretty impressive considering one day he just woke up and said, “I want to be in the NFL.”, and almost made it.

Anyone who doesn’t get laughed off an NFL training field is, by definition, a great athlete.

but I think it could’ve been framed better…you think he may be missing some key attritibutes that would make him “great” in terms of MMA, but that doesn’t take away from his overall skillset, which would indeed make him the definition of a “great athlete.”

This is the most horrible argument I’ve read on Bloody Elbow in a long time.

This guy is confusing the term athlete with technically proficient mixed martial artist. An athlete is somebody who is physically gifted with strength, agility, speed, and the like; someone able to excel at most sports with much less training than the average man.

Brock Lesnar is basically a super-heavyweight yet moves like a middlewight. He’s stronger than everyone. His wrestling skills and accomplishments speak for themselves. He may not be the most technically advanced MMA fighter in the world (yet) but to say the guy is not a great athlete is – well, stupid.