Brock Lesnar makes UFC debut tonight.

[bigbarada]

Former WWE superstar Brock Lesnar is making the transition from fake pro-wrestling to mixed martial arts. He makes his UFC debut tonight, which is obviously more about his name than his skill level. Although he is a very competent collegiate wrestler and a genetic freak, it will be interesting to see how he does against real fighters in unscripted fights.

I've met Brock and, I have to admit, he is pretty intimidating in person. Usually, when you meet the fighters they turn out to be very laid-back and friendly. Brock just seemed more like a pit bull who could snap at any moment. He kind of scared me and it didn't help that I ticked him off by bringing up a sore subject (his wife's ex-husband), fortunately Matt was there to tell me to shut up before I got punched in the face.

Hopefully, he's worked a lot on his technique, because Matt (who is almost a foot shorter and nearly 100-pounds lighter) was able to submit him within minutes when they were at the gym in Iowa back in 2006.

We'll see how it goes, but if Brock gets embarrassed in the octagon tonight, it's going to be very humiliating for the UFC with all the hype they've been building up for this fight.

[UKWildcat]

But he did do an MMA fight not too long ago, right? K1 I think? and if I remember correctly, it was pretty uneventful.


Personally, I'm looking forward to the Kimbo Slice Tank Abbott fight on EliteXC, Feb. 16th.

[bigbarada]

Yeah, it was against some Korean dude IIRC. A little dubious, though, I wouldn't doubt that they just fed him a can to get a win on his record.

I must be out of the loop, because that's the first I've heard of the Kimbo/Tank fight. Maybe I should be paying more attention to EliteXC; but I have enough trouble just keeping up with one UFC PPV every month. I actualy miss the days when there were usually 2 months between events. They were cheaper then too, not $40 to $45 like they are now.

[Slicker]

I'd like to see what Brock does. It seems that those big c**k diesel guys hardly ever stand a chance because they always go for that one big bone crushing swing and usually get caught after the punch and taken down.


I'd like to see the Kimbo fight. He's really gonna get his arse kicked. He's a big guy, yeah but all of his fights have been against people that look a bit smaller and the one fight that was on nearly even grounds (I forget the guys name but I think he was a former UFC guy and a cop) was a draw. Tank should be able to handle him nicely.

[bigbarada]

Well, Brock was submitted in the first round and lost his fight. But I thought he was doing really well, very aggressive and powerful. You could tell that Mir didn't really know how to handle him at first. I don't know if I agree with the stoppage, the blow to the back of Mir's head didn't seem to be intentional because Mir turned his head in mid-swing, so Brock couldn't help but hit the back of his head. I've seen much more blatant blows to the back of the head that weren't even noticed by the ref, much less stopping the fight and deducting a point to the guy on top.

Ah well, Brock goes up a few notches in my book as he did much better than I expected against a former UFC champion.

[UKWildcat]

Kimbo has only had one MMA fight, and the guy he fought turned p*ssy and basically gave up, after a number of seconds. He has had a ton of street fights, a lot of which can be viewed on the Interwebs, so that must be what you are referring to Slick? Either way, I know for a fact that Kimbo can hit hard, and take a punch, so he has a good chance to knock the crap outta Tank Abbott, which I think he will do. Tank can pack a punch, but he has also been knocked the f*ck out on several occasions so I gotta give the edge to Kimbo, even if he doesn't have the experience of Tank. So yeah, I predict Kimbo will win, and I think he will win convincingly - I will definitely pulling for him.


I saw the highlight of that Lesner fight, seemed pretty pathetic and rather humiliating - kinda like you mentioned bb.

[bigbarada]

I think he was actually looking pretty good until the stoppage. Very aggressive and controlling, but I guess that's what we all expected from Brock.

[El Chuxter]

I'm not dissing MMA, and don't want anyone to think I am. However, given the tendency for practicioners to "pick and choose" techniques, I have to wonder if any of the champions have gone up against a master of an individual art, and how he or she fared?

C'mon, we all know a ninja would whomp them all good, except ninjas are traditionally anti-violence unless provoked.

[bigbarada]

I'm not dissing MMA, and don't want anyone to think I am. However, given the tendency for practicioners to "pick and choose" techniques, I have to wonder if any of the champions have gone up against a master of an individual art, and how he or she fared?

C'mon, we all know a ninja would whomp them all good, except ninjas are traditionally anti-violence unless provoked.

Matt fought Royce Gracie, who is a master and one of the originators of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Unfortunately, being a master of one particular martial art usually equals one-dimensionality. As Matt proved when he rolled through Gracie like Moses parting the Red Sea and the fight was over within minutes.

I've heard of people who claim to train in ninjistu for their MMA training, but have never seen one in competition.

[El Chuxter]

Okay. I was just curious if training for the MMA "style" (for lack of a better term) resulted in people who knew the various physical moves from different martial arts, but not the corresponding mental and philosophical disciplines. If so, it could result in a fighter who would likely ultimately be inferior than one with the mental training.

I doubt that real ninjas would be willing to train anyone if they knew the knowledge would be used for sport. There aren't too many schools left (I think one or two authentic ones), and they're pretty big on mental and spiritual aspects as opposed to physical. To my knowledge, there has never been a competition between or even involving practicioners of ninjutsu. Doesn't mean they can't kill you with one punch, though, if the need arises. (And, yeah, I'm being totally serious.)