Last weekâs column celebrating the victory of âfake wrestlerâ Brock Lesnar over so-called MMA legend Randy Couture drew some ire in the MMA community. This ire was best exemplified by a 31-page thread of hate at the sherdog.net message board. But fanboy opinion canât change the result. Lesnar is UFC champ, Couture old news.
The hypocrisy displayed by MMA âexpertsâ in the wake of Lesnarâs comprehensive triumph is laughable. Only now are the âexpertsâ trotting out Lesnarâs âqualificationsâ to be UFC champ, his NCAA wrestling championship, etc., in a vain effort to embrace Lesnar after the fact. This after making fun of Lesnarâs WWE background and lamenting his supposed lack of credibility.
You donât need âqualificationsâ to be UFC champ. You just have to whip some egg-sucking dogâs ass, and Lesnar did. Your approval doesnât matter.
Frankly, itâs a shame to see an athlete with Lesnarâs abilities involved in something as seedy as UFC. A noted MMA expert appeared on my radio show this week, and he outed UFC as nothing more than thinly-veiled homoeroticism, what with the cage, the biker shorts, the fingerless gloves and the bare feet. The late Freddie Mercury would have loved it.
Look, thereâs nothing wrong with that â” weâre all as God made us â” and anyway, opinion doesnât matter. Lesnar is UFC champ. If youâre a rabid fan of MMA, you should respect that, and respect where he came from, too, because it all brought him to this point.
Pro wrestling requires toughness. Itâs a different kind of toughness, true. But when Lesnar was with WWE, he worked 200-250 days a year, taking a pounding every day. Itâs a demanding regimen. If you donât think it strengthened Lesnar physically and mentally, thus helping him to be the fighter he is today, youâre wrong.
Nobody is saying Chris Jericho could beat Fedor Whatzisname. (Although how could Fedor counter the Codebreaker?) But I am saying that MMA fans should consider that certain elements of pro wrestling figured positively in Lesnarâs development.
âRespectâ is an overused term. Everybody wants unconditional respect, but few want to give it. This concept originated in Compton, then spread to rap and later the NBA. Not enough MMA fans respect Lesnar. It seems that none respect where he came from. But if the champion doesnât have respect, it weakens the credibility of your belt and your company. Itâs the same in UFC as it is in pro wrestling.
Itâs funny to see MMA fans treat Lesnarâs title win like pro wrestling fans treat a title win by someone they donât see championship-caliber, like Ronnie Garvin in 1987. âOh, he doesnât deserve it.â âOh, heâs not worthy.â Earth to marks: Lesnar beat the champ. That makes Lesnar deserving and worthy, especially considering it was obviously no fluke.
This is a golden opportunity for MMA to take another step toward being huge, a major sport right alongside the NFL. Hereâs hoping UFC impresario Dana White isnât as stupid as most MMA fans and that he openly uses Lesnarâs WWE background to build rivalries with so-called ârealâ fighters. The heat for Lesnar-Couture was UNREAL. That match had more tension than any bout in UFC history, and that was solely because of Lesnarâs WWE past. Thatâs a good thing. Thatâs a money-making thing. Thatâs opportunity knocking.
