Brock Lesnar’s name hangs over the heavyweight division like a fart in a bean factory (I’m not sure that’s actually a saying, but it sounds like it could be). As the UFC’s biggest draw, he is forever in the title picture no matter what he does, or doesn’t do – and should he defeat Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 on December 30th, he’ll be granted another shot at the belt he claimed by TKO-ing a 106 year old Randy Couture three years ago.
Lesnar being the champ makes sense for the UFC – he’s its most famous asset thanks to his years in the WWE, and he’s carried his theatrical wrestling persona into MMA. He draws people in, he makes them spend their money on PPVs – and for a still growing company now making the move to network TV in America, he’ll help to attract the attention their aiming for.
Maybe that’s why we’re constantly told that he’s a superhuman fighting machine with the ability to plough through every competitor out there. And he is freakishly quick and athletic for such a big man. But there’s a problem: he has no boxing defence – none. Before Shane Carwin gassed and was submitted in the second round of their fight, he exposed Brock’s shockingly poor defence – and when Lesnar faced someone who could strike and knew how to pace himself, he was absolutely destroyed by Cain Velasquez, and he lost his belt.
Overeem is an excellent striker and probably has the tools to beat him; but even if Lesnar loses, expect him to continue to hover around and be given chances to get at the title now held by Junior dos Santos. Just like after his loss to Frank Mir, and just like now after his annihilation at the hands of Velasquez.
By Peter Simpson
