In light of recent news that former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar has retired, we take a look at his extraordinary career in and outside of the octagon.
The 6’3″ American was a dominant wrestler at the start of his career. In amateur wrestling at Bismarck State College and The University of Minnesota the man mountain amassed an impressive record of (106-5).
Due to his impressive amateur career, Lesnar signed with the World Wrestling Federation, now known as WWE. He was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling where he was a three-time OVW Southern Tag Team champion with Shelton Benjamin.
After debuting on the main roster in 2002, Brock became a mainstream fan favourite. The South Dakotan won the WWE championship three times with a win over Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and two wins over Kurt Angle.
Lesnar quickly rose to prominence with these championship wins and became a fan favourite after becoming the undisputed champion and the youngest ever winner of the title at 25 years of age.
Brock Lesnar leaves professional wrestling
After his WWE career declined, losing to Eddie Guerrero and Bill Goldberg, Lesnar decided to pursue a different career in the National Football League. Recognised as a defensive tackle, Lesnar signed for the Minnesota Vikings but was cut prior to the 2004-05 season.
In 2005, the now 39-year-old turned back to wrestling and signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling where he won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on his debut. Lesnar then fought in the Inoki Genome Federation as champion.
Plying his trade in Japan after such a successful period in the United States, Lesnar was effectively increasing his reputation and worldwide recognition.
Mixed Martial Arts – K1 triumph
In a neverending rollercoaster of a career, the multi-talented athlete switched his focus to mixed martial arts.
Brock made his debut at K-1 HERO’s – Dynamite!! USA where he won on his debut via submission. It took the former WWE champion just over a minute to submit opponent Min Soo Kim.
Making an immediate impact in the UFC
After his impressive display at K-1, Brock signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in October, 2007.
This time, the American suffered the reverse of his first fortune as he lost by submission 90 seconds into the first round to Frank Mir, ironically stopped by the same referee that was in charge for Lesnar’s professional MMA debut – Steve Mazzagatti.
He returned to the octagon in August 2008 against Heath Herring where he won via unanimous decision, a fight in which earned the American star a heavyweight title shot against Randy Couture.
The pair met at UFC 91 for one of the most anticipated heavyweight clashes in years in the UFC.
After a successful first round, Lesnar landed a clean punch to the face of “The Natural” in the second round and followed up on the floor with a barrage of punches leaving referee Mario Yamasaki no chance but to stop the fight. The Team Death Clutch athlete was crowned heavyweight champion of the world.
Lesnar defended his title against the only man to have defeated him in the professional ranks prior to the bout. A rematch with Frank Mir not only gave Lesnar an intriguing title defence, it gave him a chance to avenge the only defeat of his career.
With Lesnar headlining the event, UFC 100 remains one of the most lucrative fights ever to have taken place under the UFC promotion, again showing the stardom and following that Brock Lesnar brought.
He then went on to beat Shane Carwin in his second title defence at UFC 116, which also stands as one of the highest grossing events in UFC history.
The champion’s reign came to an end when he faced undefeated Cain Velasquez at UFC 121 in another event which sold over 1,000,000 pay-per-view sales. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight four minutes into the bout, handing Velasquez the victory by technical knockout (Punches).
End of the UFC road for Lesnar?
Brock tried to bounce back from his title loss by facing heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 which was Lesnar’s lowest selling UFC fight at the time, showing that the hype-train had somewhat derailed. He lost to “Reem” via TKO (Body kick and punches) in just two and a half minutes.
In April 2012 WWE fans were frothing at the mouth when Lesnar announced his comeback, ending an eight-year hiatus in professional wrestling.
Just two years after to his return to WWE, Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker at Wrestlemania XXX ending his 21-0 undefeated streak.
As of 2016, Brock Lesnar became the second highest paid professional wrestler after John Cena.
UFC 200
Whilst still contracted under the WWE, Brock was granted permission to make a one-off comeback for UFC 200 against heavyweight contender Mark Hunt.
The “Super Samoan”, ranked in the top ten of the heavyweight ladder faced the Canadian resident in what was set to be one of the highest grossing UFC events in history.
After a dominant performance from the American he was handed the win by unanimous decision. However, this was then overturned by Nevada Athletic Commission after Brock Lesnar was found to be guilty of use of illegal substances and thus received a one-year ban and $250,000 ban from the NAC. This was then followed by a one year sanction from the UFC.
Pulling power
There is no doubt that throughout his career, Brock Lesnar has been one of the biggest names around in both WWE and the UFC. Being the second highest paid professional wrestler ever as well as headlining four of the ten highest grossing fights in UFC history, the American has been one of the most prominent figures in combat sports this century.
Not only does Lesnar have ability in abundance, he has character. He has a superhuman physique that most athletes could only dream of. Being one of the most finely tuned athletes to step foot in the octagon and having the arrogance and entertainment factor on his side made the 39 year the sensation he became and thus cemented his legacy.
Whilst only having eight professional MMA fights, the former heavyweight champion will go down in the history books due to the sheer money he made from the sport and will always be remembered as a fan favourite despite the controversy surrounding him. He has revolutionised the sport and turned the UFC into an entertainment industry as well as a combat sport.
