Big Risk Pays off With Brock Lesnar

by Michael Rome on Aug 11, 2008 9:04 AM EDT in News

Yesterday on Luke's radio show, MMA Nation, Frank Trigg echoed the consensus position about the UFC's decision to give match Brock Lesnar up against Heath Herring in his third ever MMA fight:

"What are they thinking?"

Putting Lesnar in against Herring was a gigantic risk. Herring is more than just a seasoned veteran, he is an excellent fighter that has been in there with all the top heavyweight names of his era. I admit that I shook my head and called this a dumb idea when it was announced, but it paid off in spades.

Nobody can doubt Brock Lesnar anymore. In his third ever MMA fight, he beat the crap out of Heath Herring. He decked him with an amazing right, nearly crippled him with a knee to the gut, and just bullied him around the rest of the time. He even survived a pretty solid knee to the chin during a scramble without looking like it hurt him at all.

Brock Lesnar is likely to emerge as the "next" Tito Ortiz for the UFC, and I mean that in a good sense. He has a larger than life personality and history, and he can simply bully around most of the guys in his weight class. He's not going to be winning fights with triangle chokes anytime soon, but a win like this counts just as much as any other kind, and he is only going to improve from here. I'm sure they'll spend a lot of time in his next training camp working on ways to finish when a guy gives up his back, which is tricky when his hands and arms are too big to pull off most conventional submissions.

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Size

It seems to be massively underplayed his size advantage. He probably had 50 pounds on Herring. Thats like Chuck Liddell fighting Ken Flo. He SHOULD win every fight

by 813278 on Aug 10, 2008 6:26 PM EDT 0 recs

Probably more like 30 pounds. Still, it’s a lot.

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by Richard on Aug 10, 2008 6:54 PM EDT up 0 recs

That’s immaterial. The HW weight limit is 265. Brock is under now obligation to weigh any less than that. If his size advantage wins him fights, then so be it.

by Popetastic on Aug 10, 2008 8:20 PM EDT up 0 recs

50 pounds on Herring? What? Herring weighed in at 250, and was easily 265 in the fight. Lesnar weighed at at 265, and could have been 285 come fight time. That’s 20 pounds, tops. To get 50, Brock would have had to be 290+ and Herring would have had to lose weight AFTER the weighin.

by Beer Monster on Aug 10, 2008 6:40 PM EDT 0 recs

Uh…. I’m pretty sure Herring weight 250 come fight time as well. You don’t gain weight if you don’t cut weight.

by cyph on Aug 10, 2008 6:43 PM EDT up 0 recs

Why would Herring cut 15 pounds for the weigh ins?

by Mike Fagan on Aug 10, 2008 6:52 PM EDT up 0 recs

Heh, yea. I just thought about that. Disregard that…I’m dumb. But still, Brock wasn’t 300 going into the cage.

by Beer Monster on Aug 10, 2008 6:53 PM EDT up 0 recs

You were actually right about the 20 lbs though. Despite common misconceptions Lesnar walks around at about 270 pounds not 285. He wrestled in college at 270 and he has said a few times that he doesn’t have to cut much weight to get to 265.

by Vrocker on Aug 19, 2008 3:20 AM EDT up 0 recs

Why would Herring cut weight?

by 813278 on Aug 10, 2008 6:42 PM EDT 0 recs

Exactly

Imagine against some of those 230 pound guys. Even though Fedor is who he is, fighting someone with 60 pounds on you is crazy

by 813278 on Aug 10, 2008 6:45 PM EDT 0 recs

It’s kind of irrelevant. He’s fighting within the rules of the weight class. Liddell is huge for 205, it doesn’t make his wins mean any less.

by Michael Rome on Aug 10, 2008 6:46 PM EDT up 0 recs

But i’m saying it’s the explanation for his win more than any other factor. Chuck’s never fought someone 30-40 pounds lighter than him

by 813278 on Aug 10, 2008 6:50 PM EDT 0 recs

He wasn’t just bigger and stronger than Herring. He was faster and had far superior wrestling, too.

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by Richard on Aug 10, 2008 6:56 PM EDT up 0 recs

Right but size alone is meaningless without the power and speed he has to go with it. It’s the combination of speed and size that makes him so dangerous.

by Michael Rome on Aug 10, 2008 6:56 PM EDT up 0 recs

True. Most giants are freaks in this sport, who look wobbly on thier feet. Since you’re posting, what do you think the PPV numbers will be on this event?

by 813278 on Aug 10, 2008 7:00 PM EDT 0 recs

Really hard to say. Lesnar and GSP are proven draws, but they focused the promotion around Jon Fitch and Roger Huerta for the most part. I’m guessing 500-525,000 buys.

by Michael Rome on Aug 10, 2008 7:07 PM EDT up 0 recs

Surely they’d be disapinted with that

by 813278 on Aug 10, 2008 7:16 PM EDT up 0 recs

i’m with you and trigg on this mike….i was scratching my head just as much for the MIr fight….. putting him in with a good BJJ guy in his first fight didn’t make sense to me…. heath seemed like a more winnable fight to me than the mir fight…

Mike Goldberg on robnashville:
"His analysis is so analytical"

by robnashville on Aug 10, 2008 7:06 PM EDT 0 recs

In a lot of ways the fight went like I thought. I figured Brock would mostly dominate, but somewhere in the scrambles Herring would hit him and Brock would freeze up or make a mistake. Instead he passed the test with flying colors. I really don’t understand the talk of Kongo next, that sounds like a risky and dumb fight to me, but who knows.

by Michael Rome on Aug 10, 2008 7:09 PM EDT up 0 recs

You know, that’s a point I neglected to make in my live notes—Kongo was heavily cheered. I don’t think they’re on converging paths, I agree with you on that. They seem like they can both be big draws in the future and having one eliminate the other’s growth would be foolish, given that the heavyweight division is sorely in need of star power.

by Blackout612 on Aug 10, 2008 7:11 PM EDT up 0 recs

do you think they were giving Kongo a “this guy is a star” pop or was it a “somebody got KTFO”pop? pop=crowd applause

just listening to the ppv it did sound loud….

Mike Goldberg on robnashville:
"His analysis is so analytical"

by robnashville on Aug 10, 2008 7:13 PM EDT up 0 recs

His entrance got a huge pop, his strikes got cheered, his victory got a huge pop.. It’s clear that people like him. I mean, I like the guy, but I was a little startled that he was so popular. He does have a winning look, but coming off that loss to Herring, I’m not entirely sure how he has propelled into that sort of treatment. More power to him..

by Blackout612 on Aug 10, 2008 7:20 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’m sure I wasn’t alone when I said that if Brock was going to lose to Mir, he was going to give up a leg. The best leg submission heavyweight in the UFC for Brock’s first fight? No surprise when it ended like it did.

by Blackout612 on Aug 10, 2008 7:10 PM EDT up 0 recs

He very nearly smashed Mir up. If they fought again, i’d definately bet on Brock

by 813278 on Aug 10, 2008 7:11 PM EDT 0 recs

I think they put Valasquez against Herring next

by 813278 on Aug 10, 2008 7:14 PM EDT 0 recs

I think the future of the division suddenly looks a bit brighter. My thought is to do Lesnar/Coleman next (such an easy build now with Lesnar’s antics), and maybe for TUF 9 make Lesnar a coach against Velasquez.

I’d like to see Velasquez vs. Werdum next, personally.

If they ever get Randy back, and if it’s built well, Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture could be the buyrate record breaker.

by Michael Rome on Aug 10, 2008 7:18 PM EDT 0 recs

Do you really think that Brock would be allowed to coach so early in his development? I doubt he’s in a position to teach anyone much of anything. Obviously it would be big from a ratings standpoint..

And Couture vs Lesnar would break the million buys mark.

by Blackout612 on Aug 10, 2008 7:23 PM EDT up 0 recs

Honestly, I think that Lesnar could bring in his minnesota coaching team and lots of guys that could help do the coaching, while he worked on the wrestling with guys. It’s all about the ratings I think.

by Michael Rome on Aug 10, 2008 7:57 PM EDT up 0 recs

Coaching TUF is more about “cult of personality.” Fighters don’t make great coaches. Coaches make great coaches. There’s the inherent flaw in TUF as it stands anyway. Why not use the show to set up big fights that don’t tie up the HW belt for months on end?

by Popetastic on Aug 10, 2008 8:23 PM EDT up 0 recs

Any belt for that matter.

by Popetastic on Aug 10, 2008 8:23 PM EDT up 0 recs

If they add Fedor they’ll get Randy back, then it’s a great division again

by 813278 on Aug 10, 2008 7:19 PM EDT 0 recs

The odds of Randy being back have increased a lot in recent weeks. Especially with Randy conceding that if he loses he’d go back and fight Nog and finish out his contract.

by Michael Rome on Aug 10, 2008 7:23 PM EDT up 0 recs

i assume you are referencing the interview he did with Alex Marvez….he mentioned retirement as something also possible….if they don’t get a FEdor v Randy match up i don’t know that we will ever see randy back in the octagon, i just don’t see him doing the nog fight….just my 2 cents…

Mike Goldberg on robnashville:
"His analysis is so analytical"

by robnashville on Aug 10, 2008 8:08 PM EDT up 0 recs

It’s not just that interview. He told people that at the Affliction event at ringside too. He wants to fight again.

by Michael Rome on Aug 10, 2008 8:09 PM EDT up 0 recs

okay…..hey what do i know…lol

Mike Goldberg on robnashville:
"His analysis is so analytical"

by robnashville on Aug 10, 2008 8:10 PM EDT up 0 recs

I'm a huge Couture fan

but does anyone think he’d beat Lesnar? I’m not being rhetorical, I’m serious..what’s the path to victory for Randy in a fight with Brock? You’re not going to be able to dirty-box him up against the cage, he’s too upper-body strong. Randy might be able to score a takedown, but Brock’s just so strong that it’s hard to see him stuck for too long in an undesirable position. With those massive arms, he could easily force some stalemates from neutral position in order to get stood up, in which case his punching power is an advantage on the feet.

Could be that I just woke up and am not thinking straight, but I’m having a hard time envisioning the path to victory for Couture against Lesnar.

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

by misterjonez on Aug 10, 2008 10:03 PM EDT up 0 recs

I concur. His chin looked good too. If his chin is solid, he learned from his mistake of giving up his leg and he continues to progress in all technical aspects—how can anyone beat this guy?

by Blackout612 on Aug 10, 2008 10:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

Then UFC reigns

by 813278 on Aug 10, 2008 7:24 PM EDT 0 recs

Question:

I have yet to see televised broadcast of the PPV.. What was so awful about Goldberg’s commentary? I heard he really blew it. Anything specifically?

by Blackout612 on Aug 10, 2008 7:28 PM EDT 0 recs

For one thing, he made some strange analogy between Jon Fitch being a warrior and real war. That’s the only thing I can specifically remember, right now. He seemed to make a lot of those silly/weird Goldberg comments that made it seem like he doesn’t know much about MMA even though he’s covered more live matches than most have seen.

by Cannon Jacques on Aug 10, 2008 7:41 PM EDT up 0 recs

Time to promote the guy from WEC and send Goldberg packing. Speaking of which, they also need to bring in their ring announcer, who is easily better than Bruce Buffer.

by Popetastic on Aug 10, 2008 8:29 PM EDT up 0 recs

I really agree with you about Bruce Buffer. I really can’t put a finger on why I dislike him so.

by monkeyfightclub! on Aug 10, 2008 8:38 PM EDT up 0 recs

by Chris Nelson on Aug 10, 2008 8:43 PM EDT up 0 recs

LOL I saw that on UFC Wired yesterday. Nice drama there Bruce.

“AND NOWWW! IT’S TIIIIME!!!!!”

by monkeyfightclub! on Aug 10, 2008 8:54 PM EDT up 0 recs

I lol everytime he does that.

by Nick Thomas on Aug 10, 2008 9:41 PM EDT up 0 recs

I puke a little in my mouth when he does it.

by Mike Fagan on Aug 10, 2008 10:56 PM EDT up 0 recs

Am I the only person who actually likes that little gesture of his?

It must play perfectly to the nosebleed section, which I have to imagine is the point.

And honestly, I like how he’s become as an announcer. He’s over the top, and unrestrained (unlike his brother) but I think he fits the UFC perfectly.

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

by misterjonez on Aug 10, 2008 9:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

The dude’s kind of grown on me. Can Goldberg. Keep Bruce Buffer.

by Cannon Jacques on Aug 10, 2008 10:12 PM EDT up 0 recs

Goldberg honestly seems to have gotten worse. I like Buffer, though.

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by Richard on Aug 11, 2008 12:09 AM EDT up 0 recs

I love this

It’s almost like he’s in a duel.

READY…

SET…

ANNOUNCE!

by Tonley on Aug 10, 2008 11:41 PM EDT up 0 recs

he's redundant

On the main event of the last UFN, he said that Anderson Silva’s ‘precision was so precise’, he followed that up during last night’s main event by describing GSP as ‘the most athletically-gifted athlete’ in the UFC. I applaud Goldy for his enthusiasm, but I’d expect a little more command of the English language when you’re anchoring the broadcast team of the world’s top MMA promotion

by steak_knife on Aug 10, 2008 7:52 PM EDT up 0 recs

I'm watching the Lesnar fight..

..and in between the second and third rounds Goldberg says the following

“What a show of class and perseverance by Heath Herring”.

Umm.. Class? Is it possible to exhibit class while getting pummeled?

by Blackout612 on Aug 11, 2008 1:02 AM EDT up 0 recs

And now we go… to the round that is labelled… number two.

by smoogy on Aug 10, 2008 8:11 PM EDT up 0 recs

How could I forget that...

it was awful.

by Cannon Jacques on Aug 10, 2008 8:23 PM EDT up 0 recs

WTF, when was this? Good god.

by Mike Fagan on Aug 10, 2008 9:00 PM EDT up 0 recs

At the end of round 1, I believe, he went “Jon Fitch will survive… to the round… labeled ‘number two.’”

I just don’t know how many more “IT IS ALLLLLLL OVER!!!!!”s I can take.

by Chris Nelson on Aug 10, 2008 9:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

Absolutely. “It’s all over” has got to be the worst Goldbergism.

by Popetastic on Aug 10, 2008 9:20 PM EDT up 0 recs

Even if he blew it, dude isn’t going anywhere. He’s well ingrained in his position..

by Blackout612 on Aug 10, 2008 9:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

yeah, i don’t think goldy’s going anywhere soon but i hope the ufc is searching for an eventual replacement. maybe it’s just me but it seemed like rogan was ignoring most of his comments during the gsp/fitch fight. it sometimes felt like he was doing the broadcast by himself. whenever i listen to him, it sounds like he’s trying to hard or focusing too much on the sound of his voice.

by trialplayer on Aug 11, 2008 7:09 PM EDT up 0 recs

At the end of one fight – maybe it was even GSP/Fitch – Rogan just kept talking while Goldberg screamed over him. It was telling.

by Chris Nelson on Aug 11, 2008 7:22 PM EDT up 0 recs

They may have to go with a three man table. That’s the only solution I could see the UFC actually going forward with. I can be a snob when it comes to commentary, but as far as MMA is concerned, he’s done an ok job (and I only say that w/ Affliction and XC having really poor products on the play by play).

My two primary concerns with Goldberg are the following;

Rogan is the comedian—shouldn’t he be doing the color?

...and my directly associated second concern;

How can you cover MMA for as long as he has and still not be aware of some very basic terminology? He’ll be the first to remind you that he sees someone going for a guillotine, but he still can’t differentiate it from an anaconda. It seems really lazy..

It’s like the table is turned (literally) with the color guy having to do all of the legit commentary and the play by play guy comes off like an idiot with no real personality. Is his position based purely on his speaking voice? I’ll give the guy that, he has a good speaking voice. But he relies on not making the amount of mistakes he has in recent months to keep his approval ratings up. I’d prefer someone that’s working toward a quality product than one that’s simply trying not to fuck it up.

by Blackout612 on Aug 11, 2008 7:41 PM EDT up 0 recs

the problem with finding a good pbp guy is quantity. there just aren’t many around. most of the good pbp guys are just now becoming aware and knowledgeable about mma. it’s a lot easier to call a basketball game or a football game than it is to call an mma fight. a person can describe what is happening on the field or court without much knowledge of the sports and still not sound like that big of an idiot. the same can’t be said for mma. without knowledge of the ground game or clinch, that person would be forced to say the words “grabbing” and “holding” and wouldn’t be able to accurately depict the action.

by trialplayer on Aug 11, 2008 8:28 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’d like to see them bring back Matt Vasgersian.

Intentional Blog on Balls

by Richard on Aug 11, 2008 10:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

I’m still available, but my phone just doesn’t seem to ring…

by AJB on Aug 12, 2008 11:58 AM EDT up 0 recs

The real winner in the Brock Lesnar / Heath Herring matchup is most certainly the UFC itself. True, they gambled big time when they matched Lesnar up with a upper-tier heavyweight like Herring, but what does that say about the UFC? The organization solidified it’s complete credibility with this fight. Dana has been saying it since day one with Lesnar – no tomato cans for Lesnar. If he wants to be in the UFC he will have fight the toughest guys on earth. To do what EliteXC is doing with Kimbo is a joke and it has created a gray area between WWE and MMA – I call it MMAE. Creating matchups that lopsidedly favor one fighter over another is an old boxing schtick and everyone figures it out sooner or later. That’s why most boxers are 25-0 before you’ve ever even heard of them. Major, major props to the UFC for living up to their moniker: as real as it gets.

by Fooshnickens on Aug 10, 2008 7:43 PM EDT 1 recs

Brock could be the Sean Sherk at HWT

I saw a glimpse… more like a long still of sean sherk.

He had the back, got mount, etc… but couldnt finish.

Obviously he needs some slack because of his experience but he needs to start getting technique on how to best capitalize the positions that he can get.

by mmalogic on Aug 10, 2008 11:39 PM EDT 0 recs

To pick him to win was an easy call I thought. I just hate to see the attitude on this guy if he ever does become champ. He seems to bring zero class. I think he has a long ways to go to beat a guy like Big Nog or Fedor anyways but I think Lesnar could take Couture right now. Randy has always struggled with a big technically sound powerful wrestler. How’s Randy gonna control Brock to ground out a decision? Never mind..

by Tommy7 on Aug 11, 2008 12:03 AM EDT 0 recs

Well...

the fight went exactly how I thought it would. Which was good.

I think people need to realize that after his first fight Brock was very aware of not allowing himself to be in a bad position again. Whenever he had Herring’s back he stuck to what he knew was safest, just using his wrestling to ride and maintain a dominant position rather than going for a submission where Herring could possibly have reversed and been on top. How many submission attempts from Big Nog has Herring managed to survive? Brock had to know that he isn’t at that level with his subs so he stuck to just controlling. I WOULD have liked to see him open it up a bit more the few times he advanced to mount, but at the same time…the guy was able to leapfrog past Herring’s guard pretty much at will.

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

by Brent Brookhouse on Aug 11, 2008 7:37 AM EDT 0 recs

"IIIIIIIIIIIIT'S TIME!!!!"

LMAO, I love that! I actually think EliteXC’s/Showtime Boxings Jimmy Lennon Jr is wayyyy better, but Bruce will do.

I’m a big Brock fan so I was really pumped for his fight and I was glad to see he got the W. That punch was unbelievable! His antics didnt bother me, my whole house actually laughed. Brock VS Gonzaga next please.

Florian Huerta fight was a bore fest. I cant stand ‘elusive’ fighters. Being technical is one thing (see GSP) but that was just a sucky ass fight. Dana himself almost even said it. Roger was hunting the whole fight to some jackass that just wanted to pull out a decision.

"I FINISH FIGHTS!"

Pffffffffft!!! Yeah fricken right! Scared much? If I was Roger I would have been talking smack for the way Kenflo "fought" him. Other than this fight the whole card was great. I actually went on a beer run when Congo fought and I watched the DVR replay back the next day to find out I didn’t miss anything.

GSP is ridiculous! I watched that fight about 4 times again yesterday and damn he is probably my pick for best p4p fighter in the world. Much respect for Fitch though. He would not and could not fold. Too much heart and you see why GSP gave him a lot of props after the fight. Also, he would destroy BJ right now. BJ should stick to his weight class and defend his title 2 or 3 times.

BTW, how can the UFC allow someone like Dan Evensen into their organization? C’mon now. Are they just as guilty as EliteXC? Was that a freebie for Congo? I think so…

by xFenixKnightx on Aug 11, 2008 8:56 AM EDT 0 recs