Making The Case For Brock Lesnar

by Tha Realness on Jul 31, 2008 9:21 AM EDT

Brock Lesnar had the MMA world a buzz in February of this year. Making his UFC debut against former UFC HW Champion Frank Mir, everyone was asking…is Lesnar for real? Lesnar battered Mir all but about 20 seconds of the minute and a half fight…and one mistake cost him the match…a submission loss. Now Lesnar returns at UFC 87 against savvy MMA veteran Heath Herring, and has said that this match is do or die for him.

This match up is an interesting one…Herring likes to keep the fight standing…and obviously Lesnar is primarily a wrestler. During his UFC tenure, Herring has had problems avoiding the takedown against good wrestlers…hell even against not so good wrestlers. Jake O’Brien took Herring down at will and Nogueira took Herring down when he wanted to. So if those are any indications of anything…it’s that Lesnar will be able to do it as well. While Herring does have submission wins…he does not have the submission acumen of Frank Mir.

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Cheick Kongo took him down a couple of times too if memory serves me right.

by monkeyfightclub! on Jul 31, 2008 10:17 AM EDT 0 recs

I would have rather seen Brock fight Cheick before being put up against Heath. Even if Brock loses, I think the UFC will keep him because he has so much potential and he carries himself in a manner that most fans love. He’s confident in himself and is looking forward all the time. Because of his submission loss he has been training with BJJ black belts. The problem is that Brock wants to face the best guys, nothing wrong with that, but he needs to start at the bottom and work his way up. He needs to figure out what his bread and butter is going to be in the UFC. Is it that he will knock people out, ground n pound specialist, or submission specialist?

All the fans know so far is that he was a former wrestler and that he appears to be strong.

I do see Herring coming out on top in this fight. Heath does have powerful kicks that are capable of knockouts. Heath does have a good ground game, he may be taken down easily but he is no “turtle” on his back.

by lovingmma25 on Jul 31, 2008 10:52 AM EDT 0 recs

While his kicks are good….they make him susceptible to the takedown…and like I said he’s not gonna submit Lesnar nor sweep him from his back….Herring is going to have to create scrambling opportunities…but is he faster than Brock?

http://tharealness.wordpress.com/

by Tha Realness on Jul 31, 2008 11:11 AM EDT up 0 recs

I think Brock definitely has a bright future in MMA, but as you said, he needs to work his way up tot he top. I do give him props for not taking the Kimbo route though.

That being said, we’ll see how far off that future is in his next couple of fights.

by EnsignFrog on Jul 31, 2008 11:20 AM EDT up 0 recs

what do you mean by the taking the kimbo route?

by monkeyfightclub! on Jul 31, 2008 12:50 PM EDT up 0 recs

Fights cans, and washed up fighters who should be retired….

by EnsignFrog on Jul 31, 2008 2:13 PM EDT up 0 recs

he’s not the one who schedules the fights though.

by monkeyfightclub! on Jul 31, 2008 4:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

No doubt, but it is still the path he’s taken.

by nitro on Jul 31, 2008 10:20 PM EDT up 0 recs

Submission.

I don’t know that a submission is entirely impossible by Herring. It’s true that he hasn’t done much of that lately (or at all since Giant Silva), but early in his career he won a lot of his fights via submission. He’s been around long enough to have a ton more experience, which could translate into taking advantage of a mistake by Lesnar, just like Mir did. I’m not suggesting that Herring is a submission specialist, that he’s got the submission skills of Mir, or that Lesnar is comparable to the guys Herring submitted early in his career. But I do think Herring’s experience in there gives him a chance to be able to recognize a mistake by Lesnar and get a submission, and Lesnar’s lack of experience makes it possible that he will make a mistake at some point.

If I had to bet on this fight, I’d probably take Lesnar by ground/pound or lay/pray. I think he may just be too strong for Herring to do much with if and when Lesnar gets him down. But I always hesitate to completely ignore the value of experience in an mma match like this one.

by Kierkegaard on Jul 31, 2008 11:24 AM EDT 0 recs

Heath Herring is a highly expeirenced, MMA savvy guy. MMA fans and anylists always go ga-ga for the standout collegeate wrestler, but I say if Herring connects with his jaw, even a litte, Brock isn’t going to like it. He might even go to sleep. Even if he winds up losing the fight, I just want to see Brock get hit, real hard, just once. Just to see what it does to him mentally and physically.

by Cmad77 on Jul 31, 2008 12:34 PM EDT 0 recs