Brock Lesnar and the UFC Hall of Fame – Why it has to happen.
By Jason Moles:
A lot has been said recently of Brock Lesnar’s (5-3) impact on mixed martial arts. Some argue that his foray into combat sports was nothing more than a flash in the pan and that his “all sizzle – no steak” legacy is inconsequential, relegating Lesnar to little more than a footnote in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. These claims are fueled by Lesnar’s inability to take a punch well, his disappointing downfall after only eight professional fights, and a deep seeded hatred for anything pro wrestling. Despite all of that, I contend that not only was Brock Lesnar a force to be reckoned with inside of and outside the cage, but that he is worthy of an induction of the UFC’s Hall of Fame.
First off, consider Lesnar’s uncanny ability to move the needle. The former professional wrestler possessed an unequaled drawing power evidenced by his seven Octagon bouts selling somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 million pay-per-view buys. You don’t even need to look at the name of the PPV to know if he was fighting or not, the numbers clearly proclaimed his presence. Every fighter who fought on the same card as Lesnar benefited from the extra exposure garnered by the most polarizing figure in the sport’s recent history. The sound bytes, the media attention from ESPN, and the casual fan’s increased level of interest in the product Lesnar was part of is more than many fighters can say they have brought to Zuffa’s crown jewel.
Don’t mistake brevity for lack of importance. The Minnesota native accomplished in a handful of years what most fighters will never accomplish and the ones that do, spend a lifetime in its pursuit: a belt that is equal parts leather and gold and is one hundred percent proof positive that you are the best in the world. Lesnar’s accomplishments are what solidify the arguments above. As he rose to stardom, he beat the best the UFC could throw at him in a weight division it all but owned. And if it weren’t for his bouts with Diverticulitis, he may very well still be the heavyweight champion of the world.
The UFC Hall of Fame, home to legends of the sport, well, most of them anyway. It’s not a Hall of Best Records. It’s not the Hall of Really Really Good Fighters, and it’s certainly not the Hall of Legitimate Unarmed Combatants Who Like to be Punched in the Face. It is the Hall of Fame – something Brock Lesnar knows all too well. If there’s anything this guy is it’s famous. From his post-UFC 100 promo ripping the corporate sponsors to his recipe for chicken salad, the bearded viking was a memorable character, a household name, and the main event. You can’t tell the story of the UFC without mentioning the NCAA standout turned pro wrestler turned NFL player turned mixed martial artist. Sylvester Stallone was inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame for his role in the ‘Rocky’ movies. Mike Tyson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame for, well, being Mike Tyson. Are you going to tell me either of these two helped their promotion more than Brock did the UFC? Didn’t think so.
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If Brock Lesnar were to make the HOF, it would become irrelevant. If I were a UFC fighter, and Brock were already in the HOF, and they were telling me they were going to put me in there, I would laugh my ****ing ass off. Lensar was a joke. Off course he sold PPV’s he was ****ing famous, throw Brad Pitt in there, he’ll see double what Brock did, doesn’t mean he’ll do good or be HOF worthy. He beat an over the hill 50 year old after beating Heath Herring and Min-Soo Kim? He didn’t even ****ing earn it. It should have at least passed through Mir first. Then he beats Mir in a fight where Mir didn’t even looked like he showed up and beat a gassed Carwin in a very lackluster fight. Then he dropped two to some actually talented HW in very bad fashion. Disease or not, he wouldn’t be the champ. He would of still got knocked the **** out It’s clear you’re a fan, but don’t get stupid. Where’s Pedro?
Pedro is shopping for some more fake chains, oversized shirts and crooked hats.
i dont know what that means about pedros attire but this article is bullshit lesner does not belong in HOF..and saying if he did not get sick then he would sstill be on top is crazy…im pretty sure that his illness was not what caused him to be afraid to get hit and not be abe tke a punch,,that is just how oversized bullys are
Carwin fight very lackluster?? I thought it was a bad ass fight.. all brock fights were exciting.. he dropped two ina bad fashion? Na he got beat by Cain who was running through everybody and reem who was on roids… He did good for someone who never had any mma training besides wrestling.. so shut the fukk up!
Doesn’t matter if Overeem was on roids or not, Brock wasn’t going to (didn’t) walk out of there with a win. And yes, anytime you go lights out in Rd. 1, it’s bad fashion. The only entertaining Brock fights were his last two. If you consider him walking through trash cans and retired fighters ‘exciting’, that’s you. You were probably a WWE fan before this too weren’t you? Brock was a shitty fighter, that’s all there is to it, if it weren’t for the hype, or his name, he wouldn’t have even made it to the UFC. Marks will be marks I suppose.
dumbass thinking Lesnar who once actually got caught with a trunk full of steroids wasn’t juicing. Seen the size of that mother****er?
He just can’t fight deal with it!
You’re crazy if you think he juiced in the UFC. Look at him in the WWE and then UFC. There’s a huge difference in size. He was huge in the Wwe.
spot on with the brad pitt comment. Though I definitely agree brock actually accomplished a lot in the sport considering his background and training, he doesn’t deserve HOF status. The problem with brock became truly evident after the carwin fight and the training camp up to cain. Everyone in there right mind knew Brock was lucky in the carwin fight. Cain later proved it but what really showed brock’s main problem was the lack of training he did for Cain. Sure he busted his ass off… beating up training partners. It was obvious after the carwin fight there should be one thing he be working on and he was barely training it. I remember he brought in a top boxer but it was only so many hours a week. If he going to committed to the sport we would have seen brock with black and blue eyes every week during interviews but we didnt… cause he wasn’t training the only real hole he had.
How come no one is pissed that 1/3 of the tapout founders is in the Hall of Fame? I don’t see BJ, Anderson Silva, Hendo, GSP, Tito, Rampage or Wanderlei in the HOF.
I wasn’t aware of the UFC (dark ages)or Pride(golden era) in the 90s and early 2000s. Can someone explain to me why a tapout founder is in the HOF and not BJ?
They need to update this list ASAP!
That’s an exaggeration but forgive my noobishness!
because he did a lot for the industry at the time and was pro MMA and supporting fighters. He died as a legend to the industry
Mask was a very important figure and was seen at every ufc event.
its pretty revolting you are even asking that question, everyone who is a fan of UFC respects this. UFC, WEC, strikeforce dedicated their events to his loss when it happened
Thanks for the response, every day’s an education.
Dude, Dana really is an idiot. this is a disgrace. Brock in the HoF…. Really? Really? if so then everyone that is MMA is in. jus saying
I have to agree Gerald that would be crap if he got into the HOF I’d rather see Big Country in there at least it would seem more relevant of a choice…
Brock came into the UFC with little MMA experience and fought the best there was at the time and for the most part beat them. He gained the UFC mainstream exposure on the same type of level that the griffin bonnar Tuf final did and if it wasn’t for his cancer he would’ve been around for a lot longer. Looking at the current HOF I’d say Brock had an equal or greater effect on the UFC as some of them and to mention fat boy roy as a better alternative shows how one eyed you are against brock because of his WWE past/future.
Wes saki sucks guys cocks
War Brock! Haterz gonna Hate.. Fukk em
Shut the **** up **** sucker.
Brock sucks he was losing the fight with randy ,who was 70lbs less and 47 years old. and he caught him in the side of the head. . shane carwin beat him, referees usually stop a fight after 16 unanswered shots to the face . he came to the ufc because he’s rich enough to give it a shot. he was handed everything(main events,ad spots). Dana ruined the believability taking an un ranked guy and putting him on the event posters against guys that worked for years to get where they are. the man is 280lbs on that fact alone he’s got a chance against guys.he doesn’t belong in the hof , if he gets in we better call tank abbot and nate “rock” quarry .what a joke
Anybody who thinks Lesnar shouldbe in the HOF is a dick rider!!! Nuff Said!!! Are you ****ing serious? HOF? You must have your head so far up Dana’s ass that you can’t even see straight, to compare him in the same league as Randy and the rest, you gotta be ****ing joking, I thought this was a real website, but I can see that BJ is allowing idiotic articles like this on his website is starting to prove that UFC money can corrupt the best of you.
Lay off your grandma’s crack. Funny how close minded some people are
I mean that’s a bit of a stretch but can understand. In reality he actually blew the UFC up. But I wouldn’t see why not. He was a champion and defended the belt. Keyboard warriors might disagree. But he has a legit reason to be there. Plus he’s accomplished more in his short career than many fighters ever will.
That’s because no one else will beat the likes of Heath Herring and get a title shot. Mark Hunt could have had the same success but ‘he didn’t have quality wins’ lmfao, so what did Brock have? Like I said, you could of thrown Brad Pitt or something in there and he would have ‘blown up the UFC’ doesn’t make him a good fighter or Hall of famer. It’s easy to sit here and call everyone key board warriors for bashing Brock, don’t hate us, hate Brock for proving us haters right. He tried, he failed (at least that’s what 90% of us think), good riddance, I hope Dana never brings him back.
He tried, succeeded and then had his MMA career cut short by two cases of CANCER. You are all keyboard warriors who hate on someone who was freakishly talented. Before his fight with the mighty overroid 3/4 of the ufc fighters interviewed picked brock to win the fight. But i guess you guys are more adept to comment on the ufc than the fighters themselves right?
So anyone who expresses their opinions on this form are key board warriors UNLESS, they agree with you? So let me get this straight, if you DON’T like Brock Lesnar, you’re a key board warrior. Talk shit about Sonnen and Bisping all you want but God forbid we talk about the worse thing to happen to MMA since Kimbo Slice. Freakishly talented? Dude could wrestle, that’s it. He didn’t have the heart or the chin of a fighter and he got exposed. You want me to comment on Lesnar? That’s fine, we comment on the UFC because facts are facts and the only reason Brock came up as fast as he did was because of the shape the HW division was in when he got there. He’s no Jon Jones, he didn’t come up fast cause he was destroying everyone in front of him fighting 2-3 fights a month and taking fights on two week notice.
I almost puked!
Worst article all day. I have nothing against pro wrestling but this would be silly. By this author’s logic you might as well put James Toney and Kimbo in the hall too. They brought lots of publicity also.
Yeah this was a complete waste of time.
I don’t care how good you are (or were), you can’t expect to put 3 years into your MMA career and expect to walk out a HOFer. There was so many things wrong with Brock’s career in the UFC I don’t even want to get started. He was a force in the octagon, just cause he’s physically a beast.
If that ever happens it takes away all credibility from the Hall of Fame. It will be a joke to be in it.
he should be in not only for the ufc but for mma hof
before the hate comes i get it people he wasn’t the best ever but without brock mma would have a smaller fan base he brang over probably half of the people on this site to mma and he was great for the sport nobody tops his ppv numbers he even beat Iron Mike on ppv numbers he helped mma how can you hate that
I don’t think PPV numbers or bringing in a heapload of bandwagon WWE fans should get him in the HoF. Accomplishments should be the standard for that.
He hasn’t accomplished enough for that.
how about a title and a title defense does that work
Against a much smaller Couture way past his prime? Frank Mir fluke, Against Carwin he wasn’t defending himself intelligently, so the ref should have stopped it.
The first fighter with a bit of skills schooled him. I’m not saying it was a worthless effort but it’s certainly not enough for the HoF.
BJ and Anderson aren’t even in it, what has Lesnar done to get picked over them?
Don’t insult members here buddy… if Brock brought any fans over from the WWE they were a small group snot nose shit kids and hopefully they followed his roid ass back there. Brock didn’t make MMA what it is today, it would be the same now with or with out him, and I’ll bet have the people who purchased PPV’s with him on the card did it just to watch him get exposed and see his face punched in.
is bj penn is thee hall of fame yet ??? if not he should be for many reasons,,,1 of which being first non briazlian to win that bjj shit in such short time training ,, the hall of fame is something i dont pay much attention to
Why…Would he get in the HoF for a BJJ win…In the UFC?
You do realize BJJ =/= UFC or MMA, right?
Some people. I swear.
He’ll get in the UFC for winning the welterweight and lightweight belts. Not for BJJ achievements.
Are you kidding me? If BJ Penn….a 2 weight class UFC champ isnt in the HOF and That chode is…..I’l quite watching MMA for good…..Brock is a NO talent POS roid using D bag.
+muthafukkin100000000000
Blasfamy!!!!
HOF = popularity contest if he gets in, they miswell just get other random elebrities to fight in the UFC and instantly put them in the UFC for selling PPV tickets…. Joke topic.
Im sorry but if anyone thinks brock is hof metereal then I think it’s a big slap in the face to true legends like
Randy
Matt Hugh’s
Bj penn
Gracie
You know what’s ridiculous is that BJ has yet to get in it. I guess I can kind of understand that people think Brock should be in it, not that I think he should, but I think there are worse choices than Brock. But it would be a tragedy if Brock made it before BJ Penn.
Lesnar DOES NOT warrant a position in the hall of fame. His chronic illness takes him out of the UFC, but he’s already back in line to “wrestle” John Cena? So essentially leaves pro wrestling for UFC, goes back to pro wrestling and is the proverbial number 1 contender… Come on, something stinks, here.
This jason guy has to be messed in the head. brock had a measly record of 5-3. Yes he held the title and beat a few people but in the few years that he had at the organisation he did nothing. If he were to be put into te HOF peple like matt hughes and chuck liddell should be disgraced as they had a long and awesome career and then this clown comes along does shit all and gets in. Then as soon as he loses his chance to get the crown back he ****s right back to the retarded WWE. This shows that he wasn’t in the UFC for the fighting lifestyle but the publicity and the pay packet that comes with it. IF you want someone to be put in the hall of fame i believe GSP should be considered soon.
Lol Brock was the same size in college. The dude is just a natural ogre. He gets si much hate for being in wwe. What other wwe star walked into the UFC and won the title. So he beat Heath herring to get his shot. So ****ing what. Anderson silva beat Chris leben. He don’t deserve to be on the HoF but h also don’t deserve to be blasted either. And he also was never “lights out” in a single fight
Are you seriously trying to say that you don’t think Brock ever used drugs?
No there is a good chance he did when he was in wwe. But I’m not one for accusing anyone for something like that. He was a huge ass man when he was NCAA champ. He did get bigger but like I said there is a good chance he did but no one will ever know
Yeah if you look at photos of him when he was wrestling
Screw Brock ‘blowing up MMA’, take his fans back. There just a bunch of marks anyways. The world of MMA is better without em’. I for one liked it back when no one knew what UFC or MMA was. I remember way back in 9th grade when I was training everyone would tell me MMA wasn’t a real sport and now everyone thinks their a fighter. Take your fans with you Brock.
I like Brock, but I don’t think he would have ever been champion if it wasn’t for his popularity. If they didn’t give him a title shot he would have had to go through Big Nog, JDS, Big Country, etc. and who knows how his career would have turned out. As for him being in the HOF I’m on the fence because there is a non fighter in it for being one of the founders of Tap Out.
All of you brock haters are the same person under different names, thats obvious. Of course he should be in the hof. Longest reigning hw champ in ufc history. Only a life threatening illness could stop him. Entertainment left the ufc with him. Funny hearing you pussies bitch though but facts are facts. He came and conquered. Period. Brock smashed! War Lesnar!
He was the longest reigning HW because he could only fight once a year. Carwin actually should have won their fight but the stupid ref didn’t stop the fight when Lesner was slouched against the fence getting beat TFU. If he’d have been able to fight 2-3 times a year like the rest of the champs he’d have been dethroned much much sooner. So don’t count his time laying in the sick bed as time as champ. For **** sake you sound like his boyfriend. Brock sucker.
I came, i saw, i conquered… How many of u can say that…
How many times have we thought about how awesome it would be if 1 of these hollywood tough guys would take a step into reality and back up their personas… Brock is a Gangsta, nuf said!
Merecedor sem duvida alguma, em pouco tempo de MMA ele fez feitos incriveis, infelizmente se aposentou precocemente em uma luta suspeita pois seu adversario Overbomba usa bomba para melhorar suas performances e isso prejudicou Lesnar que sobreviveu a uma doença mortal e ainda assim nos presenteia com suas tecnicas arriscadas na WWE.Pra sempre mito LESNAR!
Brocks a beast. **** the haters
BS
Go down the list of heavyweights that could’ve beaten brock Lesnar??
Im pretty sure there aren’t many.
This article is an instant contender for one of the most ridiculous arguments ever made by an mma journalist. Let’s start by setting the record straight, the Stallone induction was honorary and doesnt hold any rank amongst actual boxers in the BHOF and the WWE is in fact ‘theatre’ so how is Mike Tyson’s entry even a point of discussion? Don’t get me wrong Lesner will undoubtedly go down as one of the biggest, fastest and most athletic fighters to ever enter the octagon..and should be praised for having a champion’s spirit. But to even entertain the thought of him in the hall of fame is absolutely absurd and laughable. Lets be clear, Brock came in, made a huge splash by winning the belt swiftly and beating a few underdogs. He then quickly got figured by better and more talented up-and-comers. Huge props to him for overcoming a serious disease but to be inducted into the ufc hall of fame, you need to fight and beat some of the best (not just a few), and at least attempt to avenge any big losses..a frankly impossible feat for even the most gifted in a mere 8 fights.
+muthafukkin100000000
Brock is a super sick athletic fast agile heavyweight…….but that doesn’t get you in the HOF!!!! He shouldn’t have had a title shot as fast as he did in the first place!!!! Whoever wrote this article should stop writing articles and stop being blown by whomever is blowing him to write articles of debauchery!!!! And BJ should certainly be inducted into the HOF for sure!!!!
this author is a complete idiot. If I started writing why this is the dumbest article ever I would write a few pages and even more probably. Whoever is paying this author should fire him.
yup
Yup
Cool story bro? This sound like a kid on some forums was writing about his idol and defending him lol
look at the facts brock did due alot for a short run in the ufc things does he desvere HOF no but what he did was great he was a dominant force and then he got beat. he was good at mma and wwe and he started mma way to late to have a succes the likes of chuck or tito cause well he was older then alot of people just starting in the ufc so yeah he wasnt the best but he was damn good
Internet haters.
The facts are simple:
1.) Inexperienced fighter comes to UFC
2.) Is a huge draw among fans, PPV sales go through the roof
3.) Wins the HW UFC Title
4.) Successfully defends the HW Title
5.) Gets a disease that basically makes competition impossible
6.) Recovers and comes back, posts a win
7.) Loses to Cain, who many others have lost to as well
8.) Loses to Overeem, who many others have lost to as well. Takes a shot in the mid-section, undoubtedly his prior recovery contributed to the pain of the blow. Wouldn’t be surprised if a technical striker like Overeem targeted Brock’s midsection for that reason.
I cheered against Brock in almost every fight he had, I wanted to see him lose. That does not discredit his accomplishments. Not that people will look at those before going on twitter/forum rampages when Dana admits him to the Hall of Fame.