UFC 91 Winners and Losers

by Luke Thomas on Nov 18, 2008 11:19 AM EST in News Comment 23 comments

My new opinion piece on Sherdog.com is up and Brock Lesnar is easily one of the "winners":

Having tremendous athletic gifts yet being unable to use them professionally must be exceedingly frustrating. Throughout his undulating career, Brock Lesnar has suffered through failed efforts and missed opportunities that would be difficult to swallow for any aspiring athlete, particularly for one with such unparalleled promise.

On Saturday night, Lesnar finally put a nail in the coffin of the vagabond career that prevented him from pursuing his true dream: to make a living and reach the most elevated heights attainable as a professional athlete. By capturing the most coveted position in the UFC's heavyweight class, Lesnar has more than secured himself a place as a true competitor in this league and sport. And to do so at 31 years of age after abandoning a previous career and failing to jump-start another is utterly remarkable. Lesnar, then, is an Horatio Alger story and the prodigal son wrapped into one. Wayward and confused, but forever determined to follow his nagging internal compass, Lesnar gutted through upheaval and career turmoil to once again find professional balance and personal serenity. And now he can add the UFC heavyweight championship belt to that peace of mind. Not too shabby, Brock.

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True,

it really is remarkable that after only two years of training MMA & 4 fights he has the HW belt after defeating the most storied fighter in MMA history. He clearly still has a lot to learn but definitely seems to be willing to adapt. Well written Luke.

by dnevil001 on Nov 18, 2008 10:50 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

I really liked the man bear pig line. Nice.

by SamCupitt on Nov 18, 2008 11:16 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Half man. Half bear. Half pig. Manbearpig.

by IHateMMA on Nov 18, 2008 3:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I loved when it

came out of the stargate and Al Gore was all ecstatic about being vindicated.

“Excelsior!”

There is no such thing as innocence, only degrees of guilt.

by misterjonez on Nov 18, 2008 7:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

You nailed it man.

by Patrick79x on Nov 18, 2008 11:38 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

it has been a meteoric rise… i just hope he doesnt say “that was easy” and move onto another athletic challenge after a couple more wins. easier said than done, considering some of his potential challengers, i suppose. he has the potential to be one of the all time greats, if he sticks with it.

by woooburn on Nov 18, 2008 11:45 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Great article, especially the bits on Brock and Jiu-Jitsu.

by Rundownloser on Nov 18, 2008 12:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Thanks for reading and the support, guys. I really appreciate it.

by Luke Thomas on Nov 18, 2008 12:40 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

When I was younger I watched the WWE and I really liked Brock. Watching him fail at football and then have to go back to wrestling with his tail between his legs was painful. I am happy for him that his journey is over. It helps being feakishly athletic.

by MattTil on Nov 18, 2008 12:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

"Football Failure"

I think some of you guys are misinformed about Brock’s attempt at the NFL. The guy was signed by a professional team after not playing football for close to 10 years. The guy had potential and if he had taken the 2 almost 3 years now training MMA and instead played in NFL Europe or remained on the Viking’s practice squad, there’s a pretty good chance he would have made the team. I wouldn’t list his attempt at the Vikings as failure because the Vikings were still very much interested in developing him but he decided to go another route. He has developed his skills in MMA in the past 2 and a half years and became the heavyweight champion. You guys don’t believe with his size and speed that in the same time frame he would have made the Vikings roster?

by Pete Smart on Nov 18, 2008 1:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

100% correct...

“failed at football” is an awful misstatement

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 18, 2008 1:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Um, I don’t think so. “Failure” isn’t a pejorative and the extenuating circumstances are irrelevant. Saying that he tried his hand at football and it didn’t work out is not insulting him. It’s describing reality. Yes, he tried 10 years too late. Yes, maybe he could’ve made it if he had been more committed. But he didn’t. He tried to make it, got cut and walked away from the effort. I’m not saying he’s a loser. I’m saying the attempt at becoming a pro football player was unsuccessful, which it was.

by Luke Thomas on Nov 18, 2008 1:40 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Unsucessful and Failure carry different connotations.

I blame Failblog.

by iiowyn on Nov 18, 2008 1:45 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

How would you describe my attempt to spell “Unsuccessful” in that last post?

Sorry for the double.

by iiowyn on Nov 18, 2008 1:46 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

“Double the c and double the s and you’ll always have success”

-Danny Tanner, Full House -

by Day Man on Nov 18, 2008 2:48 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Fuck you.

Nothing personal, but that show makes my teeth hurt.

by subo on Nov 18, 2008 6:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Everywhere you look…

by Day Man on Nov 18, 2008 9:31 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I understand what you are saying Luke but your article comes off as if Brock was on some downward spiral and finding MMA stopped this. I think his attempt at football is a testament to his freakish athleticism and should further exemplify that we are seeing a rare once in a lifetime athlete. The extenuating circumstances are completely relevant because while Brock Lesner is a big name, his story isn’t. Just telling readers that he was cut spins it that Brock had no place in the NFL. The fact that the Vikings wanted him to continue to develop and he made the decision to go in a different direction informs people HOW Brock got to MMA and this is a man who it seems has the natural talent to do whatever he wants.

I know this is coming off like I’m firmly attached to Brock’s chest penis but we are all witnessing our sport take it’s place amongst the hierarchy of athletics in America. Telling fighters stories and showing them as the incredible athletes that they are will only help make this sport more mainstream and accessible to the average joe who knows nothing about MMA. Brock Lesner is one of handful of guys who has the look and talent to bring people in and get them learning and understanding about what MMA is all about.

by Pete Smart on Nov 18, 2008 3:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, my point was more that Lesnar had gone through several career upheaveals, changes and evolution. Whether or not he was or wasn’t close to making it is a story unto itself, but not one I wanted to go into. My point was that he finally found his “home”, so to speak.

by Luke Thomas on Nov 18, 2008 4:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Well...

the truth is he received an invite to play pro football (albeit in a European league) despite the lack of experience. He declined the invite…so he was not successful in making the Vikings but made it through several cuts before not making the squad. So I think failure is not in line with reality.

There were a LOT of very good college players who weren’t getting invites to play NFL Europe and sharpen their skills for a run at the NFL…so labled him as “failing at football” is not something I can get on board with.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Nov 19, 2008 1:06 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Pretty damned impressive considering he was essentially a walk on.

by iiowyn on Nov 18, 2008 1:37 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

When i said “fail at football” it might have been a poor choice of words. None the less, he did not get on the Vikings roster and did have to go to Japan and wrestle (something that he didn’t want to do.) I completely agree that if he put as much effort into learning football as he did learning MMA he would have a decent shot at becoming an all-pro.

by MattTil on Nov 18, 2008 3:38 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Good article.

It should be noted that Brock’s WWE no compete clause also included MMA. It wasn’t like he drifted from Football to MMA he couldn’t do MMA until his WWE issues were dealt with. If it wasn’t for that we may of seen him fighting MMA long before we did instead of him trying out for the NFL to start with.

by who me on Nov 18, 2008 7:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs